Versarien plc (LON: VRS), the advanced materials engineering group, has today provided an update on the Company’s recent activities in the United States of America.
Further to the announcement of 21 March 2019, the Company has now reported that it is now fully operational at its new US office and laboratory facility in Houston, Texas, which is designed to act as a hub for the Company’s activities in North America.
The establishment of this US hub has already enabled the Company to accelerate its progress in North America with various new partners, in addition to the work it has been undertaking with the US National Graphene Association and various existing collaboration partners in the region.
New agreements that have been recently entered into with partners in North America, include:
· An agreement with a US manufacturer of speciality plastic packaging and transportation vessels for volatile chemicals to explore the use of Versarien’s graphene to enhance these products, in particular to reduce weight and improve the barrier properties of the vessel materials.
· A collaboration agreement with a North American graphene focussed company to investigate the addition of Versarien’s graphene to certain polymer resins for the production of products used in the consumer goods market.
· A collaboration agreement with a leading US producer of carbon nanotubes to explore the combination of Versarien’s graphene with carbon nanotubes to evaluate potential performance enhancements for a variety of products and systems, primarily in the fields of energy storage and polymer resins.
· A collaboration agreement with NovoCarbon Corporation, a US-based, clean technology minerals processing company, supplying customers with innovative, high quality value-added carbon products. This collaboration agreement covers the establishment of graphene supply chain components to facilitate the use of the Company’s graphene products in the consumer goods and other sectors.
As previously announced, the Company will be a leading participant in the American Graphene Summit, being hosted by the National Graphene Association (NGA) in Washington DC on 21 and 22 May 2019. The summit, keynoted by Senator Roger Wicker, intends to bring together leaders of US industry and government agencies and key international figures in the graphene sector to engage in a dialogue on shaping the global architecture surrounding graphene technologies and its impact on the US and global economy.
Neill Ricketts, CEO of Versarien plc, commented:
“We are very pleased to have our dedicated facility in Houston up and running. This has enabled us to more efficiently progress a number of new and existing relationships and accelerate our traction in the US. We now have relationships with over 25 companies in North America, encompassing sectors as diverse as automotive, aerospace, consumer goods, oil & gas, sports equipment and speciality plastics.
“We continue to receive a high number of enquires for the supply of our graphene and other 2D materials from leading US companies and others globally. Versarien is now truly operating on a global basis and I look forward to providing further updates on our activities with our multiple collaboration partners in due course.”
