25 May 2011

Molecular Solar Ltd., a spinout from the University of Warwick, announced today that it has completed a seed round of equity investment led by Mercia Fund Management. The company is participating in a recently announced £2.1M project being funded by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the other participating companies (Kurt Lesker, Asylum Research and New World Solar) to develop prototype third generation organic solar cells.

The University of Warwick and Imperial College London are also participating in the project. The new technology will harvest the sun’s energy at lower cost using sustainable and environmentally friendly materials and manufacturing processes and open up the possibility of truly flexible solar cells.

Prof. Tim Jones at the University of Warwick, a co-founder of the company, said: “We formed Molecular Solar with assistance from Warwick Ventures Ltd, the University’s research commercialisation arm. Our aim is to commercialise the technology developed in a multi-million pound research programme at the University over the past four years and we are delighted to have the funding to take the company forward towards this objective.”

Dr. Ross Hatton, co- founder of the company, added: “We have progressed the technology to the point that we must now focus on practical applications. Our funding from the TSB, EPSRC and our investors will enable us to build the first product prototypes and continue our leadership in this technology.”

Dr. Mark Payton, Managing Director of Mercia Fund Management which led the investment round alongside management and private investors, said: “Our model is to back world-leading academic excellence associated with scalable, disruptive technology – Molecular Solar excels on all fronts and we see this new venture as the potential leader in the development of third generation organic solar technology making this form of energy provision open to a much broader market place.”

For further information please contact:

Peter Ballantyne
Chairman, Molecular Solar Ltd.
Email:peter.ballantyne@molecularsolar.co.uk

Professor Tim Jones
University of Warwick
Tel: +44 (0)2476 528265
Email: t.s.jones@warwick.ac.uk

About Molecular Solar Ltd:

Molecular Solar was formed in December 2008 with the assistance of Warwick Ventures Ltd. (www.ventures.warwick.ac.uk) which is responsible for commercialising technology at the University of Warwick.

About Warwick Ventures Ltd:

Warwick Ventures Ltd is responsible for ensuring that the intellectual property that is the result of the University's annual research spend – some £120 million - is properly protected and commercialised for the benefit of the academics, the University, the region and the nation. For more information, see: www.ventures.warwick.ac.uk

About Mercia Fund Management

Mercia Fund Management (www.merciafund.co.uk) has a suite of funds under management. We seek technology-backed companies seeking early stage, growth and development capital. One such fund, the Mercia Fund 1 (Fund), is focused on supporting leading technologies, that have achieved proof of principle with global potential in Healthcare (particularly MedTech ), Telecoms, ITC, and Clean Technologies deriving from 8 Universities.

Mercia Fund Management is located on Birmingham Science Park Aston and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). It is a member of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA).