Ora Graphene, producer of free-standing graphene membranes, has announced the closing of its CAD$3 million (around USD$2.46 million) Seed financing round. The deal was led by Ecofuel Fund along with Export Development Canada (EDC), BDC Capital and certain members of New York Angels. Existing investors TandemLaunch, and BoxOne Ventures also participated in the round. In conjunction with the financing, the company was recently awarded a Sustainable Development Technology Canada grant to explore new areas of graphene applications for its technology.
Ora has produced what it refers to as 'the largest sheets of free-standing graphene demonstrating incredible new material properties for multi-purpose commercial utilization'. GrapheneQ membranes have already been shown to significantly improve sound quality and reduce energy consumption for global manufacturers of consumer electronics, with applications being developed for exciting new markets opportunities.
We were attracted to Ora not only because of their early traction with audio applications but also their plans to expand into other markets with their very unique intellectual property and experience with graphene production, added Bill Pertusi of the NY Angels. As part of our 2017 cohort, Ora has demonstrated clear technological advancements and market viability, said Helge Seetzen, General Partner of TandemLaunch Ventures. We are thrilled to see their market traction and provide continuous support.
Kostya Novoselov, one of the two winners of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010 for graphene isolation, added, I have known the team at Ora for years and was always impressed with their ingenious solutions of very challenging technological and scientific problems. Ora is a great example of a truly innovating company and I expect to see more real graphene products now come to market.
With this early capital infusion Ora can build upon the groundbreaking technology we invented at McGill and begin to deliver on our mission of being the global leader in graphene commercial applications, noted Robert-Eric Gaskell, cofounder and VP of Product as well as the original inventor. We began by solving a single vertical problem of improving sound quality and now look to exploit that knowledge and experience into broader markets.