CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Advanced manufacturing is getting a big boost with a new round of investment in NuMat Technologies, which is creating intelligently engineered systems through the integration of programmable nanomaterials. Closing a $12.4 million financing round led by OS Fund, with participation by Osage University Partners, Tin Shed Ventures (Patagonia’s strategic investment arm), and other existing investors, NuMat is poised to expand the global reach of its molecularly engineered products platform to Europe, East Asia and beyond.
NuMat is the first company in the world to commercialize products enabled by metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), an innovative class of nanomaterials. NuMat precisely designs and integrates MOFs into next-generation storage, separation and purification systems. By engineering custom solutions, NuMat creates products with otherwise-unachievable flexibility in form factors, improved performance and cost-advantaged production economics.
At NuMat, scientists and engineers use high-performance computing, along with leading-edge technology in chemistry and hardware development, to custom design MOFs to address a wide range of challenges — from safe storage of gases for the semiconductor industry to more “moonshot” innovation challenges in resource development, pharmaceuticals and the energy sector. Harvesting precious resources in open-loop recycling systems, transforming gas delivery for the medical and energy sectors, and enabling controlled release of small molecules for therapeutics all become possible with this technology platform.
NuMat will use the new capital to expand the company’s high-throughput computational and experimentation capabilities and to increase its manufacturing footprint to satisfy customer demand in the United States, Europe and East Asia. The funding follows several recent company milestones, including the commissioning of: an ISO9001 certified production line, located in Skokie, Illinois, dedicated to the assembly of MOF-enabled storage, separation and purification systems for global export; and an ION-X® gas fill plant in Sihwa, South Korea, in partnership with Versum, a global leader in the specialty chemicals industry.
“We’re thrilled to partner with OS Fund and Osage University Partners to realize NuMat’s vision of commercializing molecularly engineered products that enable paradigm shifts in how we create and use resources,” said Benjamin Hernandez, NuMat’s co-founder and CEO. “These investments allow NuMat to solidify its technology leadership position as an integrator of choice for metal-organic frameworks. We’re proud to be a U.S. Midwestern company manufacturing IP-intensive products for global markets.”
“Similar to precision medicine in the healthcare world, NuMat’s approach of programming MOFs specifically to interact with targeted molecules has the potential to dramatically expand the scarce resources available to the manufacturing world,” said Jeff Klunzinger, co-founder of OS Fund who also serves on NuMat’s Board of Directors. “NuMat’s ‘total solutions’ approach of designing purpose-built, intelligent systems will position the company to solve persistent innovation challenges that matter in numerous large markets.”
To learn more about NuMat, please visit: numat-tech.com.
About NuMat Technologies
NuMat Technologies, Inc. is an advanced technology company innovating at the intersection of high-performance computing, chemistry and hardware systems. We work with leading partners in the semiconductor, life-sciences and energy sectors to design material-enabled products that meet the most demanding customer requirements. NuMat is a recognized pioneer in the field of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) — an emerging class of nanoporous materials. MOFs have surface areas far exceeding those of traditional adsorbents and can be programmed to uniquely interact with target molecules at the atomic level. NuMat’s expertise lies in the design and integration of MOFs into next-generation storage, separation and purification systems. In doing so, NuMat enables previously unachievable form factors, performance and cost-advantaged production economics. NuMat provides a total solutions platform for product commercialization, pairing world-class material discovery software with application development and manufacturing expertise. For more information, visit numat-tech.com.
About OS Fund
The OS Fund finances and supports inventors and scientists who are targeting breakthroughs in some of the most challenging issues facing our world today. Our mission is to partner with tech pioneers who aim to improve the lives of billions of people around the world for generations to come. In the same way that computers have operating systems at their core — dictating the way a computer works and serving as a foundation upon which all applications are built — everything in life has an operating system (OS). We partner with entrepreneurs who are rewriting the operating systems of life to benefit humanity. For more information, visit osfund.co.
About Osage University Partners
Osage University Partners (OUP) is a venture capital firm focused on investing in startups that are commercializing pioneering university technologies. OUP partners with top research universities to invest in their most innovative startups, and OUP shares its investment profit with its partner institutions. The firm invests in software, hardware and life science companies at all stages of company development. OUP has partnered with over 90 universities, including 39 of the top 50 U.S. institutions by research expenditures, and has invested in over 75 of their spinouts. OUP is part of a family of investment funds within Osage Partners, which is based in Philadelphia and manages in excess of $500 million. For more information, visit osageuniversitypartners.com.
About Tin Shed Ventures:
Tin Shed Ventures is Patagonia’s corporate venture capital fund, which invests in startups that offer solutions to the environmental crisis. Tin Shed Ventures partners with businesses focused on building renewable energy infrastructure, practicing regenerative organic agriculture, conserving water, diverting waste and creating sustainable materials. Overall, our aim is to support like-minded startups that embody Patagonia’s mission to “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.” Ultimately, the goal of Tin Shed Ventures is to prove that business — and investments — can be engines for positive change. We’re excited to fund and mentor the next generation of responsible businesses, and we hope other investors will join us in doing so. For more information, visit tinshedventures.com.
