Investing in public graphene stocks - Page 20

Directa Plus has been awarded a €136,000 grant from the Italian region of Lombardy to develop paints and coverings with its G+ graphene nano-platelets. “This grant from the Lombardy local government will help fund Directa Plus to develop these potentially disruptive products in a faster timeframe than we could have achieved using our own resources,” said founder and chief executive Giulio Cesareo in a statement.

Directa has created a new technology, called Grafyshield, a granular, semi-finished G+ formulation for the coatings market. Grafyshield is “designed to be easy to handle and mixable with resins using mixing equipment,” the producer and supplier of nano-platelets-based products said. The target for the new formulation is to bring anti-corrosion and flame-retardant properties to the final paint system.

The University of Manchester has entered a partnership with Abu Dhabi-based Khalifa University of Science and Technology, with the aim to deliver a funding boost to graphene innovation. Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President & Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester, and Professor Sir John O’Reilly, President of Khalifa University  officially signed a contract between the two institutions during a VIP visit by a Manchester delegation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

This international partnership will further accelerate Manchester and Abu Dhabi’s research and innovation into graphene and other 2D materials. The Research & Innovation Center for Graphene and 2D Materials (RIC-2D), based in Khalifa University, is part of a strategic investment program supported by the Government of Abu Dhabi, UAE. This partnership will expedite the development of the RIC-2D at Khalifa University as well as help building capability in graphene and 2D materials in collaboration with Graphene@Manchester, a community that includes the academic–led National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the commercially-focused Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), a pioneering facility already backed by the Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy company Masdar.

NanoXplore reported its financial results for Q3 2022, with revenues of $27.1 million CAD (up 52% compared to last year). The company reported a loss (EBIDTA) of $1.97 million CAD (down from a loss of $3.7 million CAD last year).

Looking ahead into its FY2023 (which ends on September 2023) NanoXplore expects revenues to reach $110 million. The company also announced a 5-year strategic plan, during which the company will expand its production capacity from its current 4,000 tons to 20,000 tons for graphene and battery materials.

HydroGraph Clean Power has announced that it has secured a CAD$90,000 (around USD$67,820) grant in funding per year for two years for composite work at the Fraunhofer Innovation Platform for Composite Research at Western University.

This research will study HydroGraph’s graphene in thermoset resins to understand the effect of filler material on mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. The results will provide valuable information that will help increase the supply and use of graphene for applications that require lightweight and superior mechanical and energy properties.

Applied Graphene Materials (AGM) recently announced that the company aimed to raise money to fund its operations, but in the current market conditions, this is no longer possible. Shares of AGM dropped by over 40% following the announcement, and are down around 80% since the beginning of 2022.

In the six months that ended on January 2022, AGM 's revenues were only £46,000, while its net loss was £1.9 million. The company's cash reserves will likely only last till the first quarter of 2023 or so.

Graphene Manufacturing Group (GMG) has announced a "bought deal" placement for gross proceeds of AUD$5,002,250 (around USD$3,250,000). Eight Capital will serve as lead underwriter and sole bookrunner, together with a syndicate of underwriters. 

The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering for growth initiatives, working capital and general corporate purposes.

Sparc Technologies has announced that it has received strong support from "sophisticated and other professional investors", to raise AUD$3.5 million (over USD$2,247,000) through a placement to accelerate its hydrogen pilot plant and graphene R&D programs.

Proceeds from the placement will be used by Sparc Technologies for costs associated with scoping the acceleration of the pilot plant which will validate the commercial potential of its green hydrogen technology and production process. It will also be used for R&D programs to support development of graphene products.

Zentek recently announced the start of a 4-year, CAD$1,600,000 (around USD$1,172,000) research project in collaboration with Professors Mohini Sain and Ning Yan from the University of Toronto (“U of T”) and Ford Powertrain Engineering Research and Development Centre (“PERDC”).

Funding for the project includes CAD$1.2 million (around USD$879,000) from the Mitacs Accelerate program. Prof. Sain is the Endowed Ford Motor Canada Chair in Sustainable Materials where he is active in the field of light energy storage including cell chemistry and renewable fuel battery development at PERDC, and Prof. Yan is the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Bioproducts. Collaborating with the PERDC and testing at this facility is essential to demonstrate battery advances at a scale suitable for the automotive industry. 

G6 Materials Corporation announced its FY2022 results for the year that ended on May 31, 2022. Revenues were $1.35 million, down from $1.94 million last year, primarily due to restructuring a change in sales mix by shifting the Company’s focus to the launch of its own brand of air purifiers.

The company's net loss for the year was $4.9 million, up from $0.94 million last year, primarily due to the $2,776,756 write-down of the value of its investment in GX Technologies due to the asset being deemed to be not ready for use and due to lower sales of air purification products. G6 says, however, that it is optimistic regarding the improvement in gross profit, and it expects revenues to increase in the near future as more of its air purification units became available for purchase by consumers through third-party websites. In fact, you can find the Breath+ Pro at Amazon.com, for $349.

Levidian has secured financial backing from US energy technology giant Baker Hughes (Nasdaq: BKR) a £12 million investment.

The funding will enable the further scale up of Levidian’s business, including both LOOP, Levidian’s decarbonization device, and graphene production capacities at its Cambridge headquarters – allowing Levidian to capitalize on the significant interest in its ground-breaking work.