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June 2006
The 'Centro de Innovación Principia-Navarra' will be the only Spanish benchmark for nanotechnology research by the US company.
Sodena has acquired 5% of the US company Principia Technology Group for 500,000 euros.
The agreement to purchase this stake was signed on 18 May 2006 in Boston (United States) by the Government of Navarre / Sodena and senior managers of the US company.
Sodena's strategy in the field of nanoscience includes the creation of a nanotechnology research centre in Navarre (€ 1.5 million) and the setting up of the first Spanish capital risk fund aimed at financing investments in nanotechnology projects (€ 2 million). Principia Technology Group consists of a team of professors and ex alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the most prestigious university research centers in the world.
The agreement was signed by the President of Navarre Miguel Sanz and the Regional Minister of Industry, Trade, Employment and Innovation José Javier Armendáriz, also President of Sodena, who visited MIT in May 2006. The agreement links Navarre to one of the most prestigious companies in the world in innovation and technological development in the field of new materials and devices on an atomic and molecular scale (new materials whose size is the millionth part of a millimeter) that constitute a new technoscience. The acquisition of 5% of the company's capital will give Navarre a representative on the Board of Directors of Principia.
Henry Smith, a pioneer in the research and development of nanotechnology, Professor at MIT and one of the most internationally renowned scientists in the field, is the President of Principia.
Sodena's acquisition of part of the share capital of Principia will enable it to set up close links with the research environment of the MIT. Furthermore, the Centro de Innovación Principia-Navarra is destined to be a national benchmark and centre that coordinates relations between MIT and all the projects carried out in Spain under the agreement. The activities of this laboratory will consist of R&D+i projects in the field of nanotechnology and consultancy work. The ultimate objective is that some of the research projects should become business projects to be implemented in Navarre.
Sodena's decision to create the first capital risk fund in Spain for investment in nanotechnology will facilitate the development of new companies in the field. This will help business projects that arise from the work of the Innovation Centre to get sufficient financial support to ensure that they consolidate. The fund will initially have two million euros.
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