Yulex gets $2 million for guayule project

Rubber & Plastics News, March, 2003

Byline: Miles Moore

Guayule latex company Yulex Corp. has secured $2 million in funding to expand its cultivation of the latex-bearing desert shrub and complete a pilot processing plant.

The money came from Argonaut Private Equity, a Tulsa, Okla., venture capital group that generally finances projects in the $2 million to $5 million range, according to Jeffrey Martin, Yulex president and CEO.

Martin called the Argonaut funds Yulex's ``Series B round of financing,'' to distinguish it from the first round of funding that came from individual investors.

``In the Series A round, we attracted mostly farmers and a few physicians,'' he said. ``We found about 10 investors who gave us about a half-million dollars. Series B represents the first...