Emerald Technology Ventures et al. back MetGen

This is the last of three closings for the series-A round that started in February 2013 and was led by Sofinnova Partners.

The second closing was held in March, when a new chairman was appointed as well.

In addition to Sofinnova Partners and Emerald Technology Ventures, the investment round included Finnish Industry Investment, HST Partners, Finnvera and Cleantech Invest.

MetGen is Emerald's first investment from its new vehicle, Emerald Fund III.

Emerald's involvement with the company originated when Hasler met MetGen's CEO through a panel discussion during a conference in 2009. MetGen was pitching at the event, and Emerald subsequently approached the company. A dialogue followed, though at the time it was deemed too early for a cooperation.

Discussions started in 2011, and it subsequently took Emerald some time to find syndicators.

Company
MetGen develops industrial enzyme solutions for the pulp & paper industry and for the transformation of non-food biomass into renewable chemicals and fuels.

Founded by serial entrepreneurs Alex Michine and Alex Azhayev in 2006, MetGen has developed a proprietary technology platform to modify naturally-occurring enzymes.

People
Philipp Hasler is an investment director at Emerald. Following the transaction, he will join the supervisory board of MetGen. Gina Domanig is a managing partner at Emerald. Alex Michineis is the CEO and founder of MetGen.

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