Developer and seller of the world’s very first smart membrane, Water Planet, recently announced that it has spun out its highly successful PolyCera® membranes product line into a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, PolyCera Membranes.
Robust and easy to clean, with revolutionary material properties, PolyCera membranes are proven to extend the range of ultrafiltration performance beyond conventional ceramic and polymeric membranes. The PolyCera product line includes PolyCera Hydro for drinking water treatment, and PolyCera Titan for treatment of industrial wastewater including oily wastewater as well as wastewater characterised by extreme pH, high organics and/or high temperature.
In the planning stages for the past year, this development includes closing of the initial tranche of a US$8.75 million Series A financing round for PolyCera Membranes.
In addition, Simon Marshall, former partner at Amane Advisors, has joined PolyCera Membranes as its new CEO. He brings to the company proven commercial and entrepreneurial acumen, having consistently delivered significant revenue, profit and market share growth working for corporate and consultancy organisations over the past 25 years.
Earlier in his career, Marshall held senior management positions at Ultura, Severn Trent and Eurofins. He possesses extensive international experience, having led operations in North and Central America, the Far East including China, Hong Kong and Malaysia, the Middle East, and throughout Europe. He holds a degree in Mechanical and Production Engineering from the University of Wolverhampton.
“We are excited about bringing Simon on as the new CEO for PolyCera Membranes. He and I have known each other for years, and he was my first choice for the position,” Eric Hoek, CEO of Water Planet, said. “He brings to the company an exceptional business mindset and strong management experience that will be essential as we scale the business.”
“I am excited about the opportunity to work with Eric and the amazing team at PolyCera, and to lead PolyCera’s commercial growth phase,” Marshall added. “It is a truly differentiated membrane technology that is enabling our customers to treat the most challenging waters with membranes, whereas that could not be done economically before.”
“The plan to establish PolyCera Membranes as a separate entity evolved from the success of both PolyCera and IntelliFlux technologies as commercial products, each with dozens of installations around the world by now. We found the two products required radically different operating models, selling strategies and execution capabilities and decided in early 2017 to form two separate business divisions within Water Planet, with me as the acting leader of PolyCera and Subir Bhattacharjee, Water Planet’s co-founder and Chief Technology Officer as the acting leader of IntelliFlux,” Hoek noted. “We began to see increased customer traction, improved team dynamics and enhanced execution on a project basis. In fall 2017, we spun out IntelliFlux as IntelliFlux Controls with Subir as the CEO, and its success, along with that of our other spin-out MembranePRO, gave us the confidence to convert the PolyCera division into a wholly-owned subsidiary. That enabled us to raise capital for direct investment into PolyCera Membranes.”
Hoek will remain CEO of Water Planet, Inc. and will continue to provide support for its companies on high-level strategic and technical matters.
“We are confident that this business model maximises opportunities for continued growth of our membrane technology businesses,” Hoek said. “This new structure also allows me to support the operating businesses while continuing the original vision for Water Planet as the place where innovation happens.”
