Client: Setex Technologies, Inc.

Situation: M&A Advisory for Setex’s Industrial Business

Transaction Value: Undisclosed

Pantek role: Exclusive Sell-Side M&A Advisor to Setex Technologies

Pantek served as the exclusive M&A advisor to Setex Technologies, Inc., in the sale of its industrial business to Shin-Etsu Chemical Corp of Japan.

Setex’s industrial business develops advanced adhesive materials for specialized high-performance applications in the semiconductor, electronics, medical device and material handling industries. Originally developed at and spun out of Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute and the recipient of numerous research awards from the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, and NASA, Setex’s industrial adhesives are the industry’s first dry-adhesive materials capable of withstanding high temperature environments while maintaining industrial strength bonds between any materials, including metals, glass, polymers and human skin, without degradation across thousands of use cycles.

Proceeds from the divestiture will be reinvested in Setex’s remaining business which focuses on selling products into the consumer markets utilizing the same advanced adhesives materials technology platform.

Shin-Etsu is the largest chemical company in Japan, ranked No. 9 in the Forbes’ Global 2000 list within the chemical sector. Shin-Etsu is a leading global manufacturer of advanced materials and specialty chemicals. Shin-Etsu has the largest global market share for polyvinyl chloride, semiconductor silicon materials, and photomask substrates and is a leading supplier of battery materials and silicone materials used in various industrial and medical applications. Shin-Etsu is headquartered in Tokyo and has manufacturing locations in 14 countries worldwide. For more information about Shin-Etsu visit https://www.shinetsu.co.jp/en/

Setex Technologies, Inc. is a privately held developer and manufacturer of gecko-inspired gripping and dry adhesive technology used in applications ranging from eyeglass nose pads to semiconductor and glass handling to automotive upholstery fastening. The company was spun out of Carnegie Mellon University in 2009. It occupies over 12,000 square feet of space in Pittsburgh, PA and makes all of its products in Western Pennsylvania. For more information about Setex visit http://www.setextechnologies.com

Link to Press Release from Setex here.

Link to Press Release from Shin-Etsu here.

Client: Sicona Battery Technologies, Ltd.

Situation: Fundraising advisory for Series A Round

Transaction Value: $22M AUD

Pantek role: Exclusive Sell-Side Fundraising Advisor to Sicona

Pantek brokered an $22M AUD Series A round for its client, Sicona Battery Technologies with a group of 3 co-lead investors including India-based Himadri Specialty Chemical Ltd, leading Australian venture capital investor Artesian, and Electrification & Decarbonization AIE LP, a fund managed by a Canada-based hedge fund, Waratah Capital. Riverstone Ventures, Chaos Ventures, Investible Climate Tech Fund LP and Club Investible also participated in the funding round.

Sicona develops low cost, scalable next-generation battery materials technology used in lithium-ion (“Li-ion”) batteries that enable electric-mobility and storage of renewable energy.

In addition to investing in the current financing round as a lead investor, Himadri will become a preferred supplier of pre-cursor materials to Sicona and will also assist Sicona with their eventual entry into the Indian 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler electric vehicle markets.

Link to Press Release here.

Client: Azumo, Inc.

Situation: Fundraising advisory for Series B2 Round

Transaction Value: $5M growth capital line

Pantek role: Sell-Side Fundraising Advisor to Azumo, Inc.

Pantek brokered a $5M growth capital line from a leading venture debt firm as an add-on to the company’s insider-led Series B2 round. The growth capital line was structured under favorable terms and conditions and will enable the company to finance additional capex and opex as it ramps into commercialization while minimizing dilution.

Client: Setex Technologies, Inc.

Situation: Fundraising advisory for Series B financing

Transaction Value: undisclosed

Pantek role: Sell-Side Fundraising Advisor to Setex Technologies

Pantek brokered a 1st closing in the Series B round for its client, Setex Technologies, and a large multi-national strategic investor active in the global chemicals and advanced materials industries. In addition to investing in the current financing round as a lead investor, the investor has also committed to assisting Setex via new product joint development programs, co-manufacturing and distribution of finished products to the industrial and consumer markets.

Client: Ecolution Power Company

Situation: Fundraising Advisory, Strategic Business Development, SPV Formation Advisory

Transaction Value: undisclosed

Pantek role: Sell-Side & Business Development Advisor to Ecolution Power Company

Pantek brokered a strategic partnership between its client, Ecolution Power Company, and Levo Mobility LLC, whereby the parties have agreed to form and finance a joint venture for deploying a rail-to-grid / vehicle-to-grid depot in St. Paul, MN. Phase 1 of the depot construction and deployment calls for $30M in financing to acquire electric fleet vehicles which will be deployed to local customers under a transportation-as-a-service business model.

Link to Press Release here.

Client: Nuvve Corp

Situation: Pre-IPO / Pre-SPAC Bridge Financing

Transaction Value: undisclosed

Pantek role: Sell-Side Advisor to Nuvve Corp

Pantek advised on a pre-SPAC convertible note offering, sourcing multiple strategic investors, hedge funds and family offices active in the clean technology and renewable infrastructure sectors in North America and Asia. The convertible note presaged an eventual merger between Nuvve Corp and a SPAC vehicle which successfully listed on the Nasdaq and now trades under the ticker symbol ‘NVVE’. Pantek continues to advise Nuvve and several of the investors on asset-level infrastructure projects which integrate Nuvve’s core vehicle-to-grid technology.

Client: Nuvve Corp

Situation: Strategic Partnership Consulting Advisory for the China Mainland & Hong Kong Markets

Pantek role: Strategic business development advisor to Nuvve Corp

Pantek advised Nuvve on sourcing, qualifying and structuring strategic partnerships with large Asia-based conglomerates which resulted in a strategic partnership with State Grid, the electrical grid operator of Mainland China, with the purpose to evaluate, pilot and eventually roll-out Nuvve’s vehicle-to-grid technology across State Grid’s networks.

Client: IQZone

Situation: Strategic Partnership & Market Entry Consulting Advisory for the Asia Markets

Pantek role: Strategic business development advisor to IQZone

Pantek advised IQZone on sourcing, qualifying and structuring strategic partnerships within the casual gaming, social media and other interactive entertainment platform markets in China, Japan and Korea assisting in assessing these markets for potential IP licensing and product distribution opportunities for its mobile ad mediation platform.

Client: SPEQS, Ltd.

Situation: Strategic Partnership & Market Entry Consulting Advisory for the Asia Markets

Pantek role: Strategic business development advisor to SPEQS Ltd.

SPEQS licensed virtual try-on technology for the eyewear market in Australia and certain markets in Asia from another Pantek client, Image Metrics, Inc. Pantek advised SPEQS on sourcing, qualifying and structuring strategic partnerships within the optical e-commerce, optical brick-and-mortar retail and medical / optical clinic distribution markets in China, assisting in assessing these markets for potential joint venture and product distribution opportunities for its mobile optical virtual try-on platform.

Client: Image Metrics, Inc.

Situation: M&A and IP Licensing Advisory

Transaction Value: $30M

Pantek role: M&A and IP licensing advisor to Image Metrics, Inc.
Pantek advised Image Metrics on sourcing, qualifying and structuring strategic IP licensing and M&A opportunities within augmented reality, virtual reality, gaming, social media and other interactive entertainment platform markets in China, Japan and Korea assisting in assessing these markets for potential IP licensing and product distribution opportunities for its mobile 3D real-time AR platform. This effort began as an M&A assignment and resulted in an IP license transaction to the #1 search engine and AI platform company in China, Baidu, under very favorable terms to Image Metrics and Image Metrics’ shareholders. Pantek advised on every facet of the negotiation of the transaction which resulted in a total license value of $30M issued under a non-exclusive basis and with a majority of payment structure up-front.

Client: Big Stage Entertainment, Inc.

Situation: M&A Advisory

Transaction Value: undisclosed

Pantek role: M&A advisor to Big Stage Entertainment, Inc.

Pantek advised Big Stage Entertainment on sourcing, qualifying and structuring strategic IP licensing and M&A opportunities within augmented reality, virtual reality, gaming, social media and other interactive entertainment platform markets assisting in assessing these markets for potential IP licensing and product distribution opportunities for its mobile ad mediation platform. The effort resulted in a sale to Image Metrics, Inc. under favorable terms to Big Stage’s shareholders.

Client: miVIP Surgery Centers

Situation: Strategic Partnership & Market Entry Consulting Advisory for the Asia Markets

Pantek role: Strategic business development advisor to miVIP

Pantek advised miVIP on sourcing, qualifying and structuring strategic partnerships within the robotic surgical markets in China, Japan and Korea assisting in assessing these markets for potential JV opportunities and other local market entry pathways for miVIP.