Uniseed investee TenasiTech has been awarded a major grant from the Australian Government to bring its acrylic glass product to the global market.
As a recipient of support under the Australian Government’s Accelerating Commercialisation (AC) program, TenasiTech will receive AU$509,269 to complete the marketing phase of its innovative approach to toughen the surface of acrylic glass.
Uniseed CEO, Peter Devine said, “We are excited by the opportunities this grant support provides. Companies are showing strong interest in having more durable, glossy surfaces inside cars, around computer screens and in the many other uses for acrylic glass. Tenasitech provides this solution in a simpler and cheaper way than other techniques.”
Uniseed was the sole investor in the University of Queensland technology after Tenasitech was formed in 2007, investing $850,000 to 2014, when a consortium of angel investors in Brisbane and Melbourne joined Uniseed in providing a further $950,000 investment in the company. It is these funds which will be used to leverage the AC grant.
TenasiTech has developed an additive product, SOLID-TT™, for acrylic glass to withstand scratching and maintain its glossy appearance. The poor scratch resistance of acrylic glass is a key barrier to the more widespread replacement of traditional glass.
Tenasitech CEO, Richard Marshall said, “We offer a solution which is safe, easy to incorporate and cheaper for manufacturers of acrylic sheets and injection molded parts. What’s more, our solution allows more design options to our customers, as the plastic can be shaped and bent unlike our competitors.”
TenasiTech operates globally, with facilities in the US and Australia. The company owns and controls a number of patent applications and granted patents.
Media enquiries:
Uniseed:
Peter Devine, CEO,
+61 (0)409 631 581
p.devine@uniseed.com
TenasiTech:
Richard Marshall, CEO
+1 518 572 8572
richard@tenasitech.com
About TenasiTech
www.tenasitech.com
TenasiTech is a materials company which allow plastics to perform at levels not thought possible – at industrial cost – selling nanotechnology additives. One product dramatically improves the scratch resistance of acrylic sheets and molded products (PMMA). Unlike competitors, we allow users to reshape the resulting acrylic. We also sell a product range, our Adaptive Polyols™, to improve thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs), specifically toughness or operating temperature. These improvements are made with no trade-off in the material’s clarity or flexibility. TenasiTech has operations in Boston, USA and Brisbane, Australia, and has manufacturing capability in the USA, Germany and Australia. The underlying patented technology was developed at The University of Queensland and was licensed from UniQuest, the main technology transfer company at The University of Queensland, to TenasiTech in 2007. Subsequently, the company secured investment from Uniseed Ventures, an Australian seed stage investor, and most recently from angel investors from Brisbane and Melbourne Angels.
About Uniseed
www.uniseed.com
Uniseed is a $61 million commercialisation fund operating at the Universities of Melbourne, Queensland and NSW, with investment capital provided by the three universities and Australian Super, one of Australia’s largest superannuation funds. Uniseed’s mandate is to facilitate the commercialisation of university generated intellectual property by targeted investment in highly promising technologies. Uniseed has made over 40 investments in technologies arising from its partner universities including Vintela (trade sale to Quest Software Inc for ~AU$100m) and Fibrotech Therapeutics (trade sale to Shire for US$557m).