AeroShield Materials Announces Opening of New Manufacturing Facility, $5M Additional Funding to Produce Cutting-Edge, Energy Efficient Technology for Built Environment
2024年7月29日 - 11:51PM
ビジネスワイヤ(英語)
AeroShield Materials, an MIT spin out developing cutting-edge
technology for energy efficiency applications in the built
environment, announced today the opening of their new manufacturing
facility in Waltham, Massachusetts and the close of $5M in
additional funding with participation from existing investors
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and MassVentures as well as new
investor MassMutual Ventures. The funding will support AeroShield
in scaling its business by enabling the company to expand its team
to more than 30 employees in the 12,000 square-foot facility where
it plans to manufacture full-sized products, including double pane
windows.
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AeroShield employee conducting R&D in
their new Waltham facility (Photo: Business Wire)
AeroShield’s breakthrough transparent silica aerogel sheets are
some of the most insulating materials ever created and can be added
inside double-pane windows and doors to improve energy performance
by up to 65%. The facility in Waltham will significantly expand the
company's capabilities with cutting-edge aerogel R&D labs,
manufacturing equipment, assembly lines, and testing equipment.
“This facility represents an inflection point in AeroShield’s
journey. This is where we will turn our scientific breakthrough
into the first certified transparent aerogel windows and begin
saving residents billions in heating and cooling costs,” said
AeroShield CEO Dr. Elise Strobach. “Our pilot facility will supply
window and door manufacturers as we launch our first products and
also serve as our R&D headquarters as we develop the next
generation of energy- efficient products using transparent
aerogels.”
According to the US Department of Energy, window inefficiencies
are responsible for up to 30% of a homeowners’ heating and cooling
bills, and Americans lose $40B per year of energy through their
windows. High performance windows like those produced by AeroShield
can save homeowners money, reduce carbon emissions, and improve
resiliency during extreme temperature events. Just 4mm of
AeroShield’s clear material inside a standard double pane window
outperforms triple pane windows at double pane thickness and
weight, reducing the cost of high-performance windows while still
allowing consumers to choose from existing window designs.
“AeroShield represents the type of innovation and growth that is
making Massachusetts the climatetech hub for the world,” said Dr.
Emily Reichert, CEO of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.
“MassCEC exists to help propel companies like this through the
training, guidance, grants, and investment they need to go from lab
to market. AeroShield’s new manufacturing center in Waltham is now
part of our growing climate corridor, helping Massachusetts show
the world what’s possible."
The culmination of years of research at MIT by Dr. Strobach,
AeroShield was founded to enable our homes to be more sustainable
and efficient using the world’s most transparent silica aerogels.
Silica aerogels are composed of more than 95% air trapped inside
nanopores, making them one of the lightest and most insulating
solids ever created. While aerogels have been used at institutions
like NASA for decades, they are generally opaque and tinted.
AeroShield’s patented material is more transparent than glass,
enabling new high-value use cases for the materials.
“AeroShield Materials is a perfect example of our thesis of
supporting founders addressing significant climate problems that
have historically been underfunded,” said Karl Beinkampen, Venture
Partner at MassMutual Ventures. “In addition to reducing the carbon
emissions associated with heating and cooling the built
environment, the company has created an elegant solution which at
scale provides a compelling economic proposition to the end-user.
Installing AeroShield products will simply be a better financial
decision.”
While R&D is currently focused on residential windows and
doors, the material has a wide range of applications, such as
commercial windows, grocery store freezer doors, ovens, electric
vehicle windows, and solar thermal energy.
“MassVentures has been a long-time supporter of AeroShield
through equity investments from our SSBCI Diverse Founders and
non-dilutive grants like START,” said Charlie Hipwood, CEO of
Mass-Ventures. “This new facility is the latest example of the team
delivering on their mission to decarbonize the built
environment.”
This announcement follows recent news from AeroShield that it
was selected for a major grant from the Advanced Research Project
Agency - Energy (ARPA-E). The company also previously announced a
$4 million seed round in 2022.
About AeroShield:
AeroShield is a material science company that has developed and
scaled the world’s most transparent silica aerogels. Silica
aerogels are super-light, super-insulating materials that are more
than 95% air. Founded by one of the inventors of the material and
spun out of MIT, AeroShield’s mission is to make our lives more
sustainable and comfortable. To learn more, visit
https://www.aeroshield.tech/.
About MassCEC:
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is a state economic
development agency dedicated to accelerating the growth of the
clean energy and climatetech sector across the Commonwealth to spur
job creation, deliver statewide environmental benefits, and secure
long-term economic opportunities for the people of Massachusetts.
Since 2010, MassCEC has awarded over $650 million in programs and
investments and attracted more than $2.5 billion in private and
federal capital.
About MassMutual Ventures:
MassMutual Ventures (MMV) is a multistage global venture capital
firm investing in financial technology, enterprise SaaS,
healthtech, climate technology and cybersecurity companies. With
teams based in London, Singapore, and Boston, MMV manages over $1
billion in investment capital across the globe. We help accelerate
the growth of the companies we partner with by providing capital,
connections and advice. With our deep expertise and extensive
network, MMV helps entrepreneurs build compelling and scalable
companies of value.
About MassVentures:
Founded in 1978, MassVentures finds, funds and fosters
early-stage deep tech that fuels economic growth across the
Commonwealth.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240729184605/en/
Media: Aaron Baskerville-Bridges Co-Founder & VP
Operations contact@aeroshield.tech