ECORE International, a manufacturer and marketer of environmentally friendly products, has received $29 million in equity financing from Element Partners, a Philadelphia, PA-based venture capital fund.
The investment will be used for domestic and global expansion as well as continued development of new products and partnerships.
With a range of products made from cork, cork/rubber and recycled rubber, ECORE’s portfolio of brands includes national market leaders such as ECOsurfaces commercial flooring, Everlast fitness flooring, QT sound insulation, and PlayGuard playground safety surfacing. Its subsidiary units, A-Turf, SurfaceAmerica and SpectraTurf are leaders in the playground surfacing, gymnasium and fitness flooring, specialty surfacing and artificial turf industries.
As North America’s largest user of scrap tire rubber, ECORE recycles 80 million pounds of tire rubber each year to convert pliable treads into durable products for the construction, consumer, commercial, industrial, sports, fitness and recreation markets.
The company has maintained a relationship with Nike Corporation since 1993 through its Nike Grind program. As part of this effort, Nike collects manufacturing scrap, and worn athletic shoes from consumers via a global recycling effort, and processes them into raw materials used in sports surface manufacturing. ECORE blends this raw material with premium recycled tire rubber to create matting and a unique underlayment for poured urethane floors.
"ECORE is a leading company and experienced innovator in identifying and exploiting low cost waste feedstocks that can be converted to high value products which compete against traditional petrochemically derived materials," said Michael DeRosa, Managing Director at Element Partners. "They have a profitable and growing business with diverse end market applications and attractive potential growth opportunities through new products. We see great potential in companies that have demonstrated these capabilities."
ECORE also recently announced an agreement with Laticrete International, a global leader in manufacturing systems for the installation of ceramic tile and stone, to distribute its QT sound control products in markets outside of North America. The partnership will dramatically increase distribution for the product line which is made with recycled rubber.
About Element Partners
Element Partners is a leading investor in the clean technology sector. Their strategy is to identify and support companies developing promising solutions to economically important resource constraint problems. Their specific focus is on products, services and technologies in the energy and power, water, environmental, materials and chemicals, and manufacturing and industrial sectors. Element’s team has managed over $600 million in five clean technology funds and has completed over 45 investments in the sector. These investments range from early stage investments in developing companies to buyouts of established companies.
About ECORE
ECORE International is North America’s largest user of scrap tire rubber and has made a thriving business out of finding creative ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. The company operated as Dodge-Regupol from 1989 until January 2008, when the privately held corporation was renamed to coincide with its expanded strategic focus. The corporation is headquartered in Lancaster, Pa., and employs approximately 240.
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