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.
