NanoCoat to raise Rs 20 cr to fund capacity expansion

NanoCoat Chemtech, a Hyderabad-based start-up engaged in the research and development (R&D) and commercialisation of nano-materials that are directed towards innovative applications in healhcare, infrastructure and energy sectors, is looking at raising close to Rs 20 crore to fuel its capacity expansion plans.

We are planning to raise the funds through a private equity placement. We should be closing the deal in the next financial year, Baskaran A, managing director of NanoCoat, told Business Standard.

The nine-month-old company, which had raised its first round of funding from Arun Reddy, an angel investor based out of New York, currently manufactures 10,000 litre of nano-material concentrate per day from a leased facility in Hyderabad.

The company intends to utilise the proposed funds to scale up this capacity to 30,000 litre per day, besides setting up dilution-cum-bottling plants in Gujarat and Uttarakhand in a phased manner.

We have been invited by the Gujarat government to set up our facility at their nanotechnology park and we are actively considering it. Both the Gujarat and Uttarakhand plants should be up and running sometime during the next financial year, Baskaran said.

NanoCoat has already developed three products for domestic and industrial use, which it is planning to file for patents globally. These include N-Arokya focused on the hygiene segment, N-Vitra, a dust-repellent and water-repellent coating product, and N-Surya targeting photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers and end-users.

Currently being tested by a few identified customers, NanoCoat is planning to commercially launch these three products across India, Asia-Pacific, West Asia and Africa in August this year. The company has so far invested around Rs 3.2 crore in operational expenses, and R&D of these products.

Stating that the company was specifically focusing on green technology, Baskaran said the market (application of nanotechnology in chemical areas) was currently pegged at $10 billion globally.

We see a huge potential for such products and we expect each of these three products to bring in Rs 8 crore during the eight-month commercial period, both through institutional sales and distribution channel approach, he added.

The company has in its pipeline three more products, which are currently in lab-testing stage. The products, targeted at purification of completely-polluted public water bodies like Hussain Sagar Lake, and enhancement of solar PV cells production etc, are expected to be commercially rolled out in the next two quarters, he said.