3M, through its New Ventures business, announced earlier this month that it entered into a strategic relationship with MAMA Sustainable Incubation AG – a newly formed technology incubator specializing in the development of solutions for emerging green-markets such as renewable energy, sustainable architecture and water treatment, based in Berlin, Germany. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
MAMA was founded by European entrepreneurs Paulus Neef and Volker Weber and its international advisory board is chaired by Prof. Cr. Carlo Jager (Department Head at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Chairman of the European Climate Forum. MAMA provides both early-state and later stage equity funding and develops projects and technologies for emerging markets.
“This investment reflects both our long-standing commitment to environmental sustainability and our passion for innovation,” said Stefan Gabriel, president, 3M New Ventures. “With 3M’s support, MAMA will seek, explore and develop early-stage innovations to enable scalable solutions to the world’s sustainability challenges.”
“Partnering with 3M – one of the world’s foremost innovation companies – is truly synergistic, given 3M's powerful research and development capabilities and its network of global operations,” said Paulus Neef, co-founder and CEO of MAMA. “Together, we aim to bring innovation to bear on the challenges society faces in building a prosperous yet sustainable future.”
Neef added: “MAMA is a new kind of company – we incubate the most forward-looking concepts and technologies for a better future. We are looking for the most visionary “green” entrepreneurs and combine best practices from venture capital, private equity, social engineering and state-of-the-art R&D.”
3M New Ventures is based in Seefeld, Germany. This business identifies highly innovative companies and future technologies. These opportunities include investments in the strategic sectors of energy, water, architecture, media, healthcare and safety and security, with linkages to 3M.