Rolith Inc., a Pleasanton, Calif.-based nanotechnology company, announced Thursday that it has raised $5 million in Series A funding to dive deeper into the market for industrial nanocoatings.  The round was raised from DFJ VTB Aurora Capital, a DFJ fund managed by VTB Capital, as well as AGC America Inc.
Founded in 2008, Rolith specializes in nanostructured coatings for renewable energy, green buildings, and consumer electronics.  

Nanocoatings--duh, right?  Who doesn't love them some nanocoatings?

Yeah, I don't know anything about nanocoatings.  And I'm willing to bet YOU don't either.  But the company explains that its nanocoatings have a number of relevant applications, from water filtration to data storage and architectural glass.  The company employs a unique "parallel patterning scheme" that can be applied to rigid, flat surfaces, such as plates and panels.  

And what do you end up with?  Anti-reflective coatings, light absorption enhancement layers, self-cleaning coatings, anti-icing coatings, nanoelectrodes for batteries, nanoparticles for drug delivery, and nanopatterned water filtration, among other uses.

“We are excited to lead the Series A investment in Rolith, Inc. We believe that the company’s proprietary large-scale nanocoating method has great potential to become the new standard for a vast variety of industrial and consumer applications,” said Aidar Kaliev, Global Head of Venture Capital at VTB Capital, in a statement.

Rolith says it plans to use the new funds to drive business development, R&D, and expand the engineering team.