Moscow, 21 September 2017 – Rusnano Sistema Sicar, a private equity fund established by Sistema and RUSNANO, will invest up to USD 6m in Apis Cor, a developer and manufacturer of unique construction 3D printers. This will be the first investment made by Rusnano Sistema Sicar.

The Apis Cor 3D printer is a mobile robot capable of constructing buildings using fine-grained fibre concrete with special additives. It can build walls of buildings to any design in very short time-frames. This technology has no peers anywhere in the world. Today, the technology can be used to construct buildings up to three storeys high. The printer is competitive with conventional technologies on cost and significantly outperforms them in terms of speed and ease of construction. Apis Cor’s technology is expected to make cottage construction19% cheaper compared to foam concrete houses as early as in 2018, with the potential for further cost reduction projected at 20-30%.

Apis Cor has an effective full-cycle solution and is now entering the phase of active commercial growth. The company's potential customers are based not only in Russia, but also in Asia and the Middle East, where state programmes for construction of social low-rise housing and infrastructure are under way, as well as the US and Europe, where demand is high for original and highly complex architectural designs for houses and cottages.    

Apis Cor is expected to have a fleet of several dozen of 3D printers by the end of 2018. Revenue in 2018 is expected to reach tens of millions of US dollars.

Sergey Dergach, CEO of Sistema Consult, a company acting as an investment adviser to Rusnano Sistema Sicar, said: “3D printing has enormous potential for the construction industry, with a projected share of up to 30% of the global low-rise cottages market, which is valued at USD 68bn.  Rusnano Sistema Sicar's investment philosophy is to support established or emerging champions in the segment of industrial and high technologies. With its first and as yet unrivalled solution capable of successfully outperforming conventional technologies, Apis Cor has the potential to become a leader in the 3D construction industry and claim first-mover premium in this fast-growing market."

"We are pleased that Apis Cor has become our fund’s first investment. The company is a pioneer in the 3D printing industry and its technology has no peers on the global stage. Apis Cor's solution makes the construction process cheaper and drastically changes the entire industry. We are seeking to work with innovative companies that require not only financing, but also the experience and resources offered by investors such as RUSNANO and Sistema," said Sergey Vakhterov, Managing Director of RUSNANO MC.

Rusnano Sistema Sicar

Rusnano Sistema Sicar is a private equity fund established by Sistema and RUSNANO in 2016. The fund will have USD 100m under management. Sistema and RUSNANO hold 50% each in the fund. The partners will allocate cash funds as soon as it becomes necessary to finance specific transactions. The fund is open for outside investors.

The average amount of a single investment is USD 3-10m.

The fund will focus on investing in initial-stage high-tech projects and in growing and established companies in Russia, the CIS, Europe and Israel.

Rusnano Sistema Sicar's main industrial focus is information technologies, robotics and on-board equipment, software and cloud technologies, communication equipment and end-to-end solutions, renewable sources of energy and energy saving technologies (including fuel cells), microelectronics, automated control systems, special communications systems, and software for comprehensive security systems.

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