ROCKVILLE, Md., Thermal insulation start-up Liatris Inc. announced today a $1M Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from the National Science Foundation.
The goal of the project is to develop flexible insulation which can be utilized for both high-temperature industrial applications as well as LIatris’s initial target market of non-combustible building construction. This would enable Liatris to complete development of the first industrially engineered composite for insulation which is non-combustible, and integrate flexible polymers to increase ease of handling and installation for industrial use.
The project is the second highly selective federal government award for Liatris in the last six months. Liatris received a $1.6M Department of Energy BENEFIT award in October 2021 to develop high-performance R-10 / inch building insulation. Liatris’s roadmap for developing highly scalable inorganic nanocomposite insulation is designed to address both building and industrial energy use, which combine for 70% of global energy consumption.
“Creating more energy-efficient buildings and industrial processes represents one of our most impactful societal challenges,” said Frank Yang, Liatris’s President & CEO. “Our need to reduce the economic, environmental and geopolitical impact of high energy consumption has never been greater. Increasing the portfolio of insulation materials that directly cut heating and cooling losses is a significant and urgent piece of this equation.”
Liatris is adding 6 full-time employees at its newly leased lab facility in Rockville, MD for the two new projects. The full-service, 4,880 sq ft Class A lab is part of the new TwinLabs project re-developed by GlenLine Investments in buildings previously occupied by the National Institutes of Health. Liatris is collaborating with various state and local agencies to scale up lab infrastructure and training, utilizing programs such as the Montgomery County MOVE Incentive, Maryland Project RESTORE, and the Maryland Technology Internship Program.
“Congratulations to Frank and the Liatris team. We are very pleased to welcome them to TwinLabs where they will be a key part of a community of emerging science-based companies in the federal research hub at Twinbrook,” said Scott Nudelman, Managing Principal of GlenLIne Investments.
“When innovative Montgomery County companies like Liatris grow and receive funding, this positively impacts our entire County’s economy and workforce,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “I want to extend my congratulations. I am happy to hear our MOVE incentive helped to support their growth, and we are excited about their potential.”
“We are very excited about Liatris Inc.’s National Science Foundation (NSF) Phase II grant, which validates its important work developing environmentally conscious and safe building materials,” said Benjamin H. Wu, President and CEO of the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation. “We were pleased to assist as it took its first commercial space in Rockville, and look forward to continuing to support Liatris as it grows.”
Since winning the Sto Building Materials Challenge in June 2019, where Liatris’s non-flammable building insulation technology was the top-rated technology among 400 entrants, Liatris has raised $4M in follow-on funding from collaborative research awards and investor funding, including an oversubscribed $1M seed round closed last July.
About Liatris
Founded in 2018 and based in Montgomery County, MD, near Washington, DC, Liatris is an advanced materials company which is making life more affordable, comfortable and safe through management of thermal energy. We aim to deliver the cleanest and fastest energy savings by mass-producing insulation that is easy to install, economical, efficient, and environmentally friendly.
This article was shared with Prittle Prattle News as a Press Release by PRNewswire.
