Solvay announces today that it is investing $4 million in a minority stake in Polyera, a leading materials developer for the printed electronics market, based in Skokie, Illinois.

Polyera develops and commercializes organic semiconductors and dielectrics for organic thin-film transistors (OTFT) and organic photovoltaics (OPV), enabling applications such as flexible display backplanes, printed RFID tags and printed solar panels. This investment is being made under Polyera's series b financing, in which its prior investors are participating.

Printed electronics is an emerging industry that relies on printing technologies to manufacture electronic devices with a wider variety of form factors, and supports including thin, lightweight, and flexible substrates. These new electronic devices can be produced very efficiently in high volume and at low cost, and enable totally new applications which can not be addressed today by traditional silicon-based electronics.

"Polyera enjoys a worldwide recognition in the development of cutting-edge organic semiconductor material, and in just its few years of existence has built substantial know-how in printed transistor and photovoltaic fabrication", comments Leopold Demiddeleer, senior executive vice president future businesses at Solvay. "Their world-class expertise, which capitalizes on a team of experts assembled from around the world, fits very well with the other elements already part of our Printable Organic Electronics platform".

"Solvay has shown a strong commitment to the field of printed electronics, and we are thrilled to have them become a stakeholder in Polyera. With its expertise in developing chemical businesses and the network it has established in printed electronics, I am confident that Solvay will be a valuable partner as we embark on our next stage of growth.", says Philippe Inagaki, chief executive officer of Polyera.

"The investment complements similar investments of Solvay in the field of printed electronics, such as with Plextronics of Pittsburgh, U.S. The investment in technological start-ups is part of the overall effort of Solvay to develop its printable organic electronics platform. Complementary R&D activities are implemented both internally and externally on the principle of open innovation. Numerous research partnerships have been concluded, such as the Solvay global discovery program (an international research consortium that involves prestigious universities including Georgia Tech, Princeton University, University of Washington, Imperial College London, Chinese Academy of Sciences) in the area of organic semiconductors", adds Leopold Demiddeleer.