Tata Capital Innovations Fund, the corporate venturing unit of India-based industrial group Tata, has invested $2.5m (Rs15 crore) in India-based Pluss Polymers, an India-based company that specialises in the business of research, development and manufacture of specialised polymers and Phase Change Materials (PCMs). Specialised polymers are created to enhance properties of polymer compounds in white goods, auto and plastic film industries, making the Tata investment a strategic one to its core businesses.
PCMs are also used for thermal energy storage and serve to balance and maintain heating/cooling load requirements, another interesting market for Tata, since with energy becoming scarce, especially in the India market, PCMs have applications in commercial refrigeration, building and construction as either backup storage sources, or to manage peak demands for heating/cooling.
According to news reports, Said Mohan Harshey, partner of Tata Capital Innovations Fund, said, “Through an in-house research and development unit, PLUSS has developed products which address topical issues and could have wide scale applications.”
Samit Jain, director at Pluss Polymers said that the investment by Tata Capital Innovations Fund will help the business expand its capacity and tap new geographies.
“We have seen increased demand from international and domestic clients in the recent past. We at Pluss, intend to further develop and roll out new products through additional funds received,” said Jain in a news report.
The Tata Capital Innovations Fund was established in July 2010 and aims to invest between $4m and $10m in early / growth stage companies (revenues of <$20m) specialising in the IT/ITeS and cleantech sectors.