InMat Inc. has received $1 million in funding from the NJTC Venture Fund to give the company four institutional investors and a solid financial base.
The new financing not only provides the novel nanocomposite barrier coatings maker with additional resources, it gives it a link to a strong network of local contacts in the New Jersey area, where NJTC is headquartered, according to Harris Goldberg, president and CEO of InMat.
NJTC joins NGEN Partners L.L.C., Pangaea Ventures and DSM Venturing as institutional investors in InMat.
The coatings company, which was formed in 1999 and employs eight at its Hillsborough, N.J., plant, is in the midst of developing new technology and products, Goldberg said at the International Latex Conference.
InMat's technology platform is based on developing stable aqueous rubber dispersions of polymer and nanodispersed silicates that can be applied to form good barrier coatings, he said.
The company makes environmentally friendly coatings for the sporting goods, automotive, packaging and personal protection markets.
It currently has a contract with Wilson Sporting Goods Inc. to coat the firm's DoubleCore tennis balls, which are the official Davis Cup balls.
Goldberg said the firm's barrier coating doubles the life of the balls.
In addition, the company has come out with a new elastomeric coating designed for the chemical protective glove industry and, Goldberg said, it's developing other barrier coatings for the packaging industry.
InMat manufactures coatings for chemical protective gloves used by the U.S. military.
The firm also is working with companies to develop tires that are less expensive, fuel-efficient and safer, Goldberg said.
He claims that barrier coatings made from aqueous rubber dispersions eventually could replace butyl rubber used in tire inner liners.
InMat uses aqueous dispersions of non-water-soluble polymers with exfoliated clay to form a single dispersion. Goldberg said the clay remains well dispersed in the polymer as the material forms a coating.