Germany-based chemicals and consumer goods producer Henkel confirmed on Wednesday that it as invested more than $10m into funds being raised by venture capital firms Emerald Technology Ventures and Pangaea Ventures.
Henkel’s Adhesive Technologies unit has provided $5m for Canada-based Pangaea’s Fund IV, after committing €5m ($5.4m) to Switzerland-based Emerald’s Industrial Innovation Fund (EIIF).
Pangaea has raised about half of the $80m target it set for Fund IV, disclosing the participation of Henkel and fellow corporates CoorsTek, JSR, Mitsubishi Chemical, Sekisui Chemical and Lam Research last month. It will back developers of advanced materials technology.
EIIF was launched by Emerald in May 2016 with funding from construction vehicle producer Caterpillar’s corporate venturing subsidiary, Caterpillar Ventures, to invest in energy, water, advanced materials and industrial IT technology. Printing ink producer DIC recently revealed it has also invested in the fund.
In addition to making fund investments, Henkel revealed it is also an investor in gas barrier film developer Vitriflex and industrial equipment coating producer DropWise.
Paolo Bavaj, head of venturing for Henkel’s Adhesive Technologies unit, said: “The investment complements our strategic ambition to further strengthen our innovation network while benefitting from the access to emerging technologies and new markets.
“At the same time, we support promising start-ups with our global footprint, our customer base as well as our technology and infrastructure base.”