Tata VC fund to exit India thermal energy business
Tata Capital Innovations Fund is set to exit Indian industrial materials developer Pluss Advanced Technologies to a local conglomerate in a deal worth INR1.1 billion ($15.7 million).
Carborundum Universal, which has a range of heavy industrial and chemical interests, has agreed to take a 72% stake from multiple shareholders. Tata invested INR150 million in 2012, taking a stake of undisclosed size in the company, then known as Pluss Polymers.
Pluss said the Tata investment enabled it to expand its team (now 180-strong) and pursue in-house R&D. This facilitated a pivot from polymers toward phase change materials (PCMs), a class of thermal energy storage materials used in industries such as construction, cold chain logistics, solar energy, food, and pharmaceuticals.
Revenue improved from INR270 million in 2020 to INR363 million in 2021. Specialty polymers are still an important part of the product mix but have increasingly given way to PCMs, which have been applied recently in the cold chain handling of COVID-19 vaccines.
“We started as a bootstrapped business in 1994. Now, we are getting into phase-three of growth, where our focus is on the quick introduction of commercialized products through infrastructure creation, continuous innovation, license technologies, and strategic partnerships,” Samit Jain, a managing director at Pluss, said in a statement.
Pluss has 35 stock-keeping units, including a branded range of PCMs called savE, as well as Miracradle, a neonatal cooler for treating babies with birth asphyxia. The company positions itself as the first to develop a leak-proof PCM and a pioneer in hydrated salt-based PCMs. Its customer base extends across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Tata Capital Innovations Fund raised INR2.9 billion in 2010. It backs early-stage technology businesses in India serving global markets. Portfolio companies include mobile internet software provider Alef Mobitech, data security platform Vaultize, and cancer therapy developer Mitra Biotech.
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