Canada-based venture capital firm Pangaea Ventures has raised about half of the C$105m ($80m) target set for its fourth fund, with its limited partners including several corporate backers.
Ceramics product maker CoorsTek, petrochemical product manufacturer JSR Corp, chemicals producers Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings and Sekisui Chemical, consumer goods provider Henkel Corp and semiconductor technology supplier Lam Research Corp are all among the LPs.
Pangaea makes strategic investments in advanced materials technology developers in the energy, electronics, health and sustainability sectors. Should Pangaea Ventures Fund IV reach its target size it will be the firm’s largest ever.
The firm has offices in the US and Canada but uses its relationships with strategic partners based in Asia, Europe and the Middle East to help its portfolio companies invest internationally.
JSR Corp, Mitsubishi Chemical and CoorsTek all contributed to Pangaea’s third fund, which closed at about $60m, the latter through its 9th Street Investments subsidiary. CoorsTek subsequently acquired Pangaea portfolio company Boulder Ionics in late 2014.
Other corporates that have contributed to Pangaea funds in the past include chemicals producers BASF, Evonik, Solvay and Sabic, Castrol, which invested through its Castrol Innoventures unit, and electronics producer Samsung’s Samsung Venture Investments subsidiary.