Surface Modification Technology start-up Nelumbo receives $5.5 million in Series A funding

  • November 14, 2018
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  • Surface Modification Technology start-up Nelumbo receives $5.5 million in Series A funding

Company moves into new, Hayward, California facility that includes an R&D lab, testing center and a pilot production plant

HAYWARD, Calif., Nov. 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Surface Modification Technology startup Nelumbo has raised $5.5 million in a Series A offering led by the Berkeley Catalyst Fund with syndicate partners that include Photon Fund, 1517 Fund, UPC Renewables, and Danfoss. The Series A financing, which was oversubscribed, enables Nelumbo to bring first products to market and establish additional strategic partnerships focused on developing and commercializing new products.

In conjunction with the financing, Nelumbo expanded its Board of Directors and opened its new headquarters in Hayward, California. The newly expanded Board is comprised of Laura Smoliar, Managing Director at Berkeley Catalyst Fund, Liam Berryman, cofounder and CEO, Lance Brockway, cofounder and CTO, and Mike Hopkins, recently retired CEO of Ice Energy who serves as an Independent Director. The new 8,000 square foot Nelumbo headquarters includes offices for the quickly growing team, R&D lab and testing center, and pilot production plant capable of sending commercial scale product direct to customers, allowing significant acceleration in Nelumbo’s commercialization process.

“The team and I could not be more pleased with our Series A financing,” said Liam Berryman. “The quality of the investors that have joined us is the result of Nelumbo having developed a technology platform with application to many end products and demonstrated demand in our first targeted vertical of cooling. Our new headquarters provides us the end to end commercialization ability we desire and is strategically located in the center of the Bay Area, which enables us to attract talent from universities such as UC Berkeley and Stanford, and also from ‘hard tech’ companies in Fremont and San Jose. Last but not least, with our newly expanded Board we have the strategic support and network to help see us through this next stage of growth.”

“Berkeley Catalyst Fund is excited about Nelumbo’s ability to transform traditional industries with advanced materials and have a positive impact on people’s daily lives around the globe,” said Laura Smoliar. “I am personally excited to see Nelumbo break into new applications and markets both domestically and overseas.”

“I am honored to join Nelumbo as their Independent Director,” said Mike Hopkins. “Having successfully commercialized disruptive technologies in the cooling market, I recognize the market need and opportunity and have tremendous confidence in the ability of Nelumbo and its partners to fundamentally improve the performance of heat exchangers as the first targeted vertical for Nelumbo’s surface modification technology.”

About Nelumbo

Established in 2015 with a goal of changing the power of materials science in modern society and business, Nelumbo is a recognized pioneer in the field of advanced surface modifications and a trusted partner for developing, manufacturing, and selling redefined products using innovative surface technologies. The Nelumbo technology includes a multi-functional and customizable surface modification platform that can be integrated with base products for dramatic differentiation, performance advantages, and access to new markets by solving critical technical challenges. Nelumbo formed out of UC Berkeley and has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Cyclotron Road Fellowship, the Thiel Fellowship, and Forbes 30 under 30 for Energy.

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