UK-listed oil major BP’s lubricants subsidiary, Castrol, has committed to the Pangaea Venture Advanced Materials fund.
The limited partner commitment came from the subsidiary’s Castrol InnoVentures corporate venturing unit, which makes direct venture and fund investments as well as partnerships and internal business incubation in four areas: next generation engineering, smart mobility and transportation, intelligent operations and sustainable solutions for automotive, industrial and marine.
Roy Williamson, head of Castrol InnoVentures, said: “It’s a great opportunity to see multiple new and disruptive technologies in the materials sector.”
Chris Erickson, general partner of Pangaea, added: “We look forward to utilising Castrol’s expertise for the benefit of our portfolios.”
In May last year, Pangaea made a $50m first close on its third fund with a host of corporations as investors and Erickson by email said it had now reached $55m.
Other limited partners (LPs) in Pangaea Ventures Fund III, which is targeting $100m, include Asahi Glass Company, Asahi Kasei Innovation Partners, Bekaert, 9th Street Investments (a CoorsTek affiliate), JSR, Mitsubishi Chemical, Murata Manufacturing Company, Nitto Denko and Sabic Ventures.
Pangaea said its other LPs have included BASF, Solvay, Toyota Tsusho and Umicore but they had yet to commit to the latest fund. Pangaea Ventures Fund II closed at $32m in August 2008 with strategic LPs from Asahi Glass, Umicore, Bekaert, BASF Venture Capital, Solvay, Ciba Specialty Chemicals and Toyota Tsusho America.