GRAPHENE PROGRESS. Versarien is the real deal. In the 14 years since graphene was first developed at Manchester University in the UK, there's been a wild-west style goldrush among companies worldwide to get it into production. Many claim to have done so. But many of those claims are false. Customers have, in many cases, been sold material purporting to be graphene, but which has not performed well. In some cases the ingredient has produced improvements, but not the exciting ones expected. Fast-forward to September 2017 when the International Standards Organization (ISO) published a long overdue definition of what can and cannot be called graphene. More than 90% of the material previously marketed as graphene fails to comply - which helps explain the disappointments experienced. In many cases the material sold has been graphene oxide or other derivatives of graphite. These do have their uses, but they are not graphene. One of the companies whose product does comply at the highest grade is small UK company called Versarien. This is no surprise to its followers, as in Sept 2017 it was the runaway winner of a UK tender in which samples were submitted to the government's Centre For Process Innovation. The company began by buying 85% of a graphene company set up by Manchester University - the birthplace of graphene. The university maintained a 15% stake in Versarien.
3 Oct 2016 - acquired plastics company Aac Cyroma
19 Jan 2017 - acquired 85% of Cambridge Graphene Ltd, the remaining 15% being retained by Cambridge University with whom Versarien have an ongoing research relationship.
8 Feb 2017 - The brand name Nanene is registered for Versarien's graphene.
19 Sept 2017 - Versarien wins UK government tender to supply graphene after submitted samples proved superior.
15 Jan 2018 - China's Jinan Province sign a Letter Of Intent for a joint venture with Versarien, to meet growing need for genuine graphene which China's own makers have failed to produce.
5 Feb 2018 - America's National Graphene Association (NGA) appoint Versarien's boss Neill Ricketts to its Advisory Board.
22 May 2018 - in an unprecedented move, the UK government announce that Matt Walker, Head of Outward Direct Investment at the UK Government's Department for International Trade ("DIT") has joined Versarien on a secondment for a minimum of 12 months. During this period he will work exclusively for Versarien and will be Head of International Strategy and Government Relations.
7 Jun 2018 - the NGA announce that Versarien has been appointed as the inaugural Industry Council member and Corporate Partner of The National Graphene Association ("NGA"), the main organisation and body in the US advocating and promoting the commercialisation of graphene.
15 Aug 2018 - UK government announce that Peter Jay, Head of Policy and Governance for Outward Direct Investment at the UK Government's Department for International Trade ("DIT") has joined Versarien on a secondment for a minimum of 12 months. During this period he will work exclusively for Versarien and will be primarily responsible for overseeing the Company's planned People's Republic of China expansion implementation.
25 Sep 2018 - Versarien buys a 62% stake in Spanish advanced battery and supercapacitor developer Gnanomat.
Check out the 'About us' page on the company website, and the 'rns' list in the 'Investors' section for details of more than two dozen active collaborations under way with partners ranging from innovative small companies to global corporations. With assistance from the UK government, the company is also finalising huge deals with China.
The company is listed on the London Stockmarket (ticker LSE:VRS) where it's stock price has climbed 12-fold in 12 months.
