Lansing Biotech Firm Gets State Investment

Lansing-based EcoSynthetix Inc. said Tuesday that it had received a $750,000 investment from the Michigan state pension fund.

EcoSynthetix is a manufacturer of biobased replacements for petroleum-based chemicals.

Invest Michigan, a program announced by Governor Jennifer Granholm earlier this year, selected EcoSynthetix as one of only two companies to receive capital in its first ever investment in high growth potential businesses in the state.

The $750,000 is part of a $10.5-million round of financing from a variety of private and public investment sources for EcoSynthetix, manufacturer of EcoSphere Biolatex, a bio-based coating material used in paper products.

With 19 paper mills in Michigan, over 3.7 million tons of paper are produced here. The industry employs 4,800 people, providing economic stability in their communities and representing a considerable tax base for the state. EcoSynthetix is targeting several mills in Michigan for conversion to its biolatex coating process next year.

"One of the reasons for our success is the fact that our new biolatex replaces a large percentage of petroleum-based binder in the paper coating process," says Richard Shatkosky, president of EcoSynthetix. "With the wildly fluctuating price of petroleum products in the market, the paper industry sees EcoSphere biolatex as a way to provide some stability in their production process."

EcoSphere Biolatex is a starch based product that is used as a bonding and coating agent on a variety of both glossy and dull finish coated papers.

"The product has some great ancillary benefits in paper manufacturing," said John van Leeuwen, CEO of EcoSynthetix. "When we sampled the test runs with graphic designers, they noted that the paper coated with EcoSpher® has better stiffness and feel than the same weight paper coated with the petroleum product."

Added Shatosky: "Our strategy is to ramp up production to meet the demand we are seeing on a worldwide basis. Outside of North America, there is tremendous demand from South America, Europe and Japan and we have barely scratched the surface of the market."

EcoSynthetix technology platforms are clean technologies because they provide biobased products derived from renewable resources that have a positive impact on the environment. The company’s biopolymer nanoparticle technology platform provides EcoSphere products as replacements for petroleum-based paper and paperboard coating binders such as SB and SA Latex. At substitution levels up to 50 percent, the biolatex products are comparable or superior to traditional petroleum-based alternatives and can be specifically formulated to deliver previously unattainable benefits at a lower delivered cost to industrial users.