Covaron Advanced Materials took second place in the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition last month, a win that put $100,000 in cash into the startup's kitty.
That money will go toward its seed capital round. The firm raised a total of $300,000 in seed capital and also landed a $250,000 loan from the
Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund prior to the win last month. Covaron Advanced Materials is also looking to raise a $5 million Series A.
"We're just starting to solicit that now," says Dave Hatfield, CEO of
Covaron Advanced Materials.?
The Ann Arbor-based start-up, formerly Kymeira Advanced Materials, is developing a new chemistry for ceramics, which brings the benefits of existing advanced ceramics to new parts and markets. The 1-year-old company won the student portion of the Accelerate Michigan competition last year. This year the startup and its team of six people (it just hired one of its interns) leveraged that experience to turn in another winning effort.
"We had a good story," Hatfield says. "To win both of those competitions and through the vetting for the business loan from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund means you have a pretty good business plan. It’s a great confirmation for us."
Source: Dave Hatfield, CEO of Covaron Advanced Materials
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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