Covaron Advanced Materials has locked down another $250,000 in seed capital, bringing the total for the downtown Ann Arbor-based start-up’s initial seed round to $550,000.
The $250,000 comes from the
Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, which is run by Ann Arbor SPARK. It serves as matching funds for the $300,000 in venture capital it raised earlier this year, and is the precursor to the next round of funding the start-up plans to being raising soon.
“We expect we will be looking for A-round funding in the first quarter of next year,” says Dave Hatfield, CEO of
Covaron Advanced Materials.
The 1-year-old start-up, formerly Kymeira, is developing a new chemistry for ceramics, which brings the benefits of existing advanced ceramics to new parts and markets.
Vince Alessi, a University of Michigan graduate, developed the technology, which is in the final stages of commercialization. The seed capital will go toward finishing that process so it can start to make its first sales this fall.
“It (the seed capital) is going toward several things, like securing our intellectual property position, and replicating and validating the basic chemistry,” Hatfield says. “We are moving very rapidly to create the capability and the customers for the initial sales.”
Those initial sales will be in the mold, tool-and-dye industry. Covaron Advanced Materials' team of six people is also eyeing sales in the oil-and-gas industry further down the line.
Source: Dave Hatfield, CEO of Covaron Advanced Materials
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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