UK-based metal powder producer Metalysis raised £12m ($16.9m) in funding yesterday from a consortium including Interogo Treasury, the asset management arm of furniture retail chain Inter Ikea’s parent company Interogo Foundation.
Woodford Investment Management, Draper Esprit, ETF Partners and Hercules Capital also took part in the round. Interogo Treasury invested as an existing backer, though details about its earlier involvement have not been disclosed.
Founded in 2001, Metalysis has developed a solid-state process to produce powdered versions of metals and both new and commercially established alloys.
The company’s products include titanium, graphene and rare earth metals such as scandium and niobium, which are used in additive manufacturing across industries such as aerospace, automotive, magnets, nanotechnology and battery technologies.
The cash will also support the launch of Gen4, a industrial scale production facility that Metalysis will use to produce hundreds of tonnes of specialty powder alloys, as well as post-processing facilities and feedstock.
Metalysis received $29m from investors including Woodford and mining company Iluka Resources in 2016, after the latter had invested $20m in 2014.
ETF led a $25.6m funding round for the company in 2007 that also featured 3i, QinetiQ, Seven Spires, Chord Capital and Cambridge Capital Group, two years before ETF, 3i, Chord Capital and Seven Spires returned to inject $7m alongside Cody Gate Ventures.
Metalysis’ shareholders also include mining group BHP Billiton, which entered into a strategic intellectual property and asset acquisition agreement with the company in 2007 as part of a joint venture agreement.
– The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.