Solvay Ventures, the strategic investment arm of France-based chemicals producer Solvay, has made its second commitment to a China-focused advanced materials fund by backing Richland Capital Fund III.
The unit commited to Richland’s third venture capital fund at its first close alongside Redbud, a China-based fund-of-funds subsidiary of Tsinghua Asset Management, and Nipsea, part of Japan-headquartered Nippon Paint.
The commitment comes after Solvay Ventures contributed to China-based Longwater Investment’s advanced materials-focused fund in April 2019.
Stéphane Roussel, managing director at Solvay Ventures, said: “By partnering with Richland Capital, we want to support and share in the upgrade of China’s manufacturing ecosystem towards higher value added applications and products.”
Yong Cheng, founding partner of Richland, which has previously backed Exciton and Jianlong Micro-Nano, added: “Through the partnership with Solvay, Richland can better help Chinese startups to accelerate their growth by leveraging Solvay’s global supply chain and innovative capabilities.”
