PV materials firm Voltaix scores $10M in financing from MissionPoint, names Mark Schwartz to board

Photovoltaics and semiconductor materials provider Voltaix has received $10 million in equity financing from private investment firm MissionPoint Capital Partners. The company also announced the appointment of Mark Schwartz, cofounder and chairman of MissionPoint (and former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia), to its board.

“Solar-cell producers are increasingly focused on materials that increase cell efficiency, and Voltaix is on the leading edge of innovation in this area,” said Mark K. Fine, CEO of Voltaix (shown at left).  “This partnership with MissionPoint strengthens our ability to maintain our leadership position as a developer of enhanced products for the PV and semiconductor industry.”

“Mark Schwartz brings tremendous experience and insight to our board of directors and will help Voltaix become a global leader in advanced materials manufacturing,” said Peter de Neufville, chairman of the New Jersey-based company. “This equity financing will help Voltaix significantly increase our production and development capabilities, and will enable [us] to expand our activity in Asian markets.

“With a quarter-century of technology leadership, Voltaix has a strong legacy of innovation that has helped electronics manufacturers support the expanding demand for applications such as thin film photovoltaics,” noted Schwartz.  “Voltaix is positioned to capitalize on extraordinary growth opportunities as a result of the transition to low-carbon technologies.  Our investment in Voltaix is consistent with MissionPoint’s strategy to partner with companies spearheading this global transformation.” 

Voltaix announced earlier this month that it plans to build a manufacturing facility in Northampton County, PA, with construction set to begin in the second quarter and operations projected to ramp in 2011.