TMCnet News
Water Planet Announces New Series B Round Of FundingLOS ANGELES, Aug. 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Water Planet, a developer of numerous innovative and award-winning water treatment membrane products and solutions, has received a new Series B round of funding to continue the development and commercialization of its industrial wastewater treatment technologies. The funding round includes investments from Air Liquide's ALIAD Corporate Venture fund, Bluestem Capital and UCLA Venture Fund. In conjunction with the new funding, the company has restructured as a Delaware C-corporation and changed its name from Water Planet Engineering, LLC to Water Planet, Inc. The new name and tag line, "Where Innovation Happens," reflect its continued growth and mission to lead the global advancement of water reuse through disruptive membrane material, module and process innovations. "This round of funding represents an important step forward for Water Planet," said Eric Hoek, CEO of Water Planet. "We now have the capital to commercialize PolyCera® membrane technology and to drive sales of our broadening portfolio of innovative products. Our new investors add significant value beyond the infusion of capital. They bring great experience in early stage companies as well as global access to customers, which will further fuel our growth," he added. As one of the world's leading producers and suppliers of industrial gases and related products and services, Air Liquide's strategic investment into Water Planet's value goes far beyond capital, as the two plan to collaborate on current and future products and services. Industry-focused institutional investor Bluestem brings extensive experience working with successful startups within the energy, water food, agriculture and biotech industries. "We value Air Liquide's confidence in our technologies and the future this represents not only for our company, but also for the water treatment industry. We are already engaged with them to develop unique offerings for water reuse and look forward to bringing other services and products to market together," said Subir Bhattacharjee, Ph.D., Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Water Planet. Steve Kirby, President of Bluestem Capital Company, stated, "We look at hundreds of investment opportunities per year. Water Planet is one of the best combinations of disruptive technology and management execution we have seen. We are confident that when a customer goes to Water Planet with a problem that no one else can solve – they will." Michael Silton, Executive Chair of the UCLA Venture Fund stated, "UCLA investment fund is particularly interested in supporting both technology and alumni that have grown from the UCLA campus and community. We believe in the future of Water Planet and see their work benefiting the many water needs of California and beyond." Since founding in 2011, Water Planet has provided membrane-based products, solutions and services on six continents. Its team represents more than 130 years of professional water treatment and membrane separations experience. Water Planet was named West Coast Water Management Company of the Year in the 2014 Oil & Gas Awards. The company's innovations include IntelliFlux™ membrane controls and its "Core-CMS" ceramic membrane technology. IntelliFlux membrane controls allow any membrane technology to perform more reliably and affordably through Water Planet's proprietary self-adaptive membrane system control software. The ceramic membrane Core-CMS units developed by Water Planet – powered by IntelliFlux – offer the world's most cost-effective, energy-efficient and fouling-resistant ceramic membrane filtration systems for purifying high solids and oil containing waste streams and for high-temperature process separations. About Water Planet Contact: Ann Seamonds To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/water-planet-announces-new-series-b-round-of-funding-300135249.html SOURCE Water Planet 
|