JYVÄSKYLÄ, Finland — October 28, 2024 — Spinnova has been granted an R&D loan by Business Finland of a maximum of EUR 12.7 million for its research and development (R&D) work for the period 5 July 2024 – 31 December 2027, which is divided into two phases. The loan amount in the first phase totals EUR 7.7 million, lasting two years. The loan amount of the second phase, lasting one and a half years, is evaluated to be EUR 4.9 million. A prerequisite for granting the second phase is certain technical and commercial criteria, which must be met in the first phase of the R&D project. The loan amount represents 50% of the project’s total cost estimate, which totals EUR 25 million, including both phases.
The first phase of the project focuses on process efficiency, further fibre recipe development, and automatization development of Spinnova’s technology. In the second phase, the focus will be on product development for new textile and other applications, in addition to process efficiency. The loan’s amortizations will start in 2029, and the interest rate is three percentage points below the base interest rate, defined by the Ministry of Finance Finland (currently 3.75%) or at least one per cent.
This R&D project supports the scaling of Spinnova’s technology sales. The project work is part of Spinnova’s R&D roadmap for lowering the capital expenditure and operational expenses of production technology, presented earlier this year at Spinnova’s Capital Markets Day.
“We are grateful that Business Finland continues to support Spinnova in the commercialization of our fibre technology. With this significant financing, we are able to speed up our R&D work, which is done together with our partners, in order to increase the cost competitiveness and attractiveness of the unique Spinnova technology,” says Spinnova’s Chief Technology Officer, Juha Salmela.
Spinnova has previously stated that no additional external financing is required for Spinnova to achieve its strategy targets. This statement remains in place as this R&D loan is intended for a specific R&D project and has no dilutive effect on shareholders. Spinnova has previously received grants from Business Finland, for example, for developing SPINNOVA® fiber from textile and agricultural waste streams. These earlier development projects continue concurrently with the now-starting R&D project.
Posted: October 28, 2024
Source: Spinnova Plc
