Avantium Raises EUR 30 Million to Advance YXY Technology

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, June 9, 2011 -

Avantium is proud to announce that it has successfully raised
EUR 30 million to advance its breakthrough YXY technology for green building
blocks. Avantium will use the funds for the construction and operation of its
pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, and for the development of green
materials on basis of these YXY building blocks.

Avantium has completed a EUR 25 million financing round with
new investors Sofinnova Partners, Aster Capital and De Hoge Dennen as well as
existing investors Aescap Venture, Capricorn Cleantech Fund, ING Corporate
Investments and Navitas Capital. In addition Avantium has secured a subsidy
and innovation credit, in total EUR 5 million, from the Dutch Ministry of
Economy, Agriculture and Innovation (EL&I). Part of the funding has been used
to buy out shares held by DFJ Esprit, AlpInvest, Eastman, EDBI and Pfizer,
aligning the company's shareholder base with its strategy.

Next generation green materials

Avantium is building a pilot plant to demonstrate its YXY
technology which enables the cost effective production of Furanics building
blocks for green materials and fuels. The pilot plant will also be able to
produce larger volumes of YXY building blocks for application development of
new, green plastics, chemicals and materials. This will facilitate the
development and commercialization of Avantium's next-generation polyester:
PEF. PEF is a new to the world polymer that can be made out of plant material
instead of oil. Avantium expects that PEF will become the green material to
replace petroleum based polyesters such as PET. Avantium has demonstrated
that PEF has numerous superior properties when compared with PET, including
lower permeability of oxygen, carbon-dioxide and water and an enhanced
ability to withstand heat. The YXY technology makes it possible to produce a
100% biobased, 100% recyclable polyester that can compete on price and
performance with traditional materials such as PET. Avantium is actively
working on the development of PEF bottles for beverages, food, cosmetic
products and detergents. In parallel, Avantium is developing both PEF fibers,
used for textiles and carpets, as well as other materials based on of its YXY
building blocks, such as polyamides and coatings.

Overwhelming interest

Tom van Aken, Chief Executive Officer of Avantium, said: "We
are privileged to welcome Sofinnova, Aster and De Hoge Dennen as new
investors as we look to scale and commercialize our YXY technology. The
strong support of our current shareholders and our ability to attract such
reputable investors validate the potential of our technology and products. We
are experiencing an overwhelming interest from consumer goods and industrial
companies who wish to use our YXY building blocks for a broad range of
applications, including PEF bottles for water, soft drinks and beer, PEF
fibers for apparel and carpets, and engineering plastics for automotive and
electronic materials. This funding will allow us to prove our process on a
larger scale and to do application testing in collaboration with brand owners
and industrial partners. We are also proud to have secured the support of the
Dutch Ministry of EL&I for Avantium as part of their active promotion of the
transition to a biobased economy."

Strong investor base

Michiel de Haan, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Avantium
and General Partner of Aescap Venture, said: "This financing round represents
a major strengthening of our investor base. We are extremely happy that new,
high quality investors are joining us to build Avantium into a global
technology leader in green building blocks, and would like to thank the
departing investors for their historical role in the company."

Unique technology in huge market

Denis Lucquin, General Partner at Sofinnova Partners, who will
join Avantium's Supervisory Board, said: "We have found in Avantium a first
class management team eager to drive the company on the forefront of world
competition in bio sourced plastics and materials. The uniqueness of
Avantium's YXY technology provide them the opportunity to be the first
company able to put on the market a fully bio-sourced polyester suitable for
water and soft drinks bottling, representing a huge market. They will have
many other applications as already shown through their collaboration with
Teijin Aramid. We are very excited to be part of this new challenge."

About Avantium

Avantium is a leading technology company specialized in the
area of advanced high-throughput R&D. The company develops and commercializes
YXY - its brand name for chemical building blocks for making green materials
and fuels that can compete on both price and performance with oil based
alternatives. Avantium has demonstrated the value and commercial potential of
its unique technology and knowledge by collaborating with leading companies
in the energy and chemical industries. Avantium has a global customer base
for its profitable R&D services and systems offering, including market
leaders such as BP, Shell and Sasol. Avantium offices and headquarters are
based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Visit the corporate website: www.avantium.com or the product
website: www.yxy.com

About YXY

Avantium has developed YXY (pronounced as icksy) - a family of
green building blocks for making materials and fuels that can compete on both
price and performance with oil based alternatives, but which have a superior
environmental footprint. YXY is a patented technology that converts biomass
into Furanics building blocks such as FDCA (2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid). FDCA
is the monomer that can be used for the production of the green polyester PEF
(Poly-ethylene-furanoate). YXY is the perfect solution for today's
challenges, using carbohydrates as feedstock to enable the manufacture of
products which are both green and sustainable. This fast and cost-effective
production process is based on Avantium's catalytic technology. YXY can be
implemented in existing chemical production assets. Avantium is collaborating
with leading companies in the industry to develop and produce green materials
and fuels based on YXY building blocks. See www.yxy.com for more
information.

For more information about Avantium, please contact Mariette Hoogendoorn at +31-20-586-8010