Carbice in Atlanta, US, has raised $15m to scale up production of its CNT carbon nanotube material. The Series A round was led by UK venture capital fund Downing Ventures and includes Toyota AI Ventures.
Carbice produces Carbice Carbon, the highest heat conducting material in the world that consists of a composite of recycled aluminium and aligned carbon nanotubes (CNT). It lowers device temperatures and dissipates heat away from product packaging and is being used in space applications within satellites as well as in many terrestrial applications to attach power devices efficiently to heatsinks.
“Thermal management is a critical electronics issue that has seen little disruptive innovation. Carbice Carbon’s heat-conducting technology is a game-changer for applications in multiple industries. Bara is a proven leader with the ideal combination of vision, strategy, operations, and technical expertise to realise Carbice’s potential,” said Jim Adler, Founding Managing Director of Toyota AI Ventures.
Carbice Carbon’s heat-conducting technology is a game-changer for applications in multiple industries.
Jim Adler
Toyota AI Ventures
The funds will allow Carbice to attract top talent to help grow their sales and marketing functions and enable the company to scale their production to meet the significant product demand. It also plans to open an office in Toulouse, France with Bianca Cefalo, the former thermal products leader at Airbus joining as Director of International Business Development.
Carbice was founded by Dr Bara Cola who holds one of the longest tenures in the field of carbon nanotubes, working on and researching them since 1999 and winning multiple awards for his research and patented designs. The IP is based around manufacturing rather than just the product itself, which is the pitfall of many materials start-ups.
Using government grants and commissioning projects for the US Army, Air Force, and National Science Foundation has allowed Bara and his team to move through multiple generations and really understand the product in a low-cost environment. The manufacturing process has now had nearly a decade to mature, with batch processing of the product taking minutes to grow with a 90 percent uniform yield. The cmpany uses in-application predictive modeling to allow designers to know what to expect up front.
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