LiquiGlide Receives $7 Million in Funding
CAMBRIDGE, MA – Roadmap Capital has invested $7 million equity funding in LiquiGlide Inc., enabling the coatings company to secure commercial deals in multiple market verticals and accelerate its growth strategy. The influx of capital has enabled LiquiGlide to move into a new 11,000-square-foot laboratory and office space in Cambridge, MA, which will help the company continue to attract top scientists.
“We see unlimited potential for our slippery coatings and feel a sense of urgency to bring them to the industries where they can make a real impact,” said LiquiGlide co-inventor and CEO Dave Smith. “The support from Roadmap Capital will help us build our customer base across industries and attract innovative scientists.”
LiquiGlide’s patented technology platform for permanently wet, slippery surface coatings was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) by Varanasi and Smith, who also co-founded LiquiGlide Inc. The company’s coatings are custom-made for each application by combining a porous solid with a liquid that gets trapped within it via strong capillary forces. These coatings can literally be made from edible ingredients, making them completely safe for foods, health and beauty products, and other consumer goods. The coatings are commercially viable for a multitude of industries, from consumer-packaged goods to oil and gas, medical, life sciences, agrochemical, and aerospace.
LiquiGlide’s momentum began in 2012 after winning the Audience Choice Award at the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition and first prize at the Mass Challenge, and after its ketchup bottle video went viral. Thousands of potential customers inquired about the technology, including the largest consumer-packaged goods companies in the world, and LiquiGlide Inc. was founded to commercialize MIT’s patents for liquid-impregnated surfaces. LiquiGlide now has more than 30 paying clients across multiple industries and has more than 20 employees.
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