Triton Technology Fund announces seed round investment in Grolltex
Grolltex Leverages UCSD Technology Patents for Electronics Miniaturization
March 14, 2016
San Diego, CA – Grolltex, an advanced materials company, employing patented technology from the Nanoengineering Lab of the University of California, San Diego, today secured its seed round funding led by the Triton Technology Fund (TTF). This $1.0 million seed round will enable Grolltex to accelerate commercialization of its advanced materials capabilities in the production of miniature products and raw materials for the electronics and medical device fields. Since closing its seed round, Grolltex has built a strong core leadership team and was accepted into EvoNexus, Southern California’s largest start up incubator.
“Grolltex, with its patented processes, is in a unique position to open new markets and to capture existing marketshare quickly as we are able to unlock the next generation of technology materials miniaturization advances,” according to CEO, Jeff Draa.
The leadership team includes the original inventor of the technology from UC San Diego, Aliaksandr Zaretski as CTO. Prior to joining the company, CEO, Jeff Draa was a twenty five year veteran of the semiconductor equipment and materials industry as well as President Emeritus of Tech Coast Angels, the largest angel investing network in the US. “Our breakthrough technology, coupled with the enormous demand for high quality miniaturization materials, position Grolltex to be an immediate leader in this nascent industry” said Draa.
“We are very excited about the strong intellectual property portfolio and outstanding team Grolltex has assembled. In addition, the customer pipeline consistently complimented the high quality product and ability to satisfy challenging customer requirements,” commented Dave Schwab, Managing Director at Triton Technology Fund and Vertical Venture Partners.
“We are thrilled to see how Grolltex has matured since they first reached out to the von Liebig Center for support” says Dr. Rosibel Ochoa, Senior Executive Director of the vLC. “They epitomize the von Liebig Center model to help UC San Diego students and faculty commercialize their technologies through gap funding for proof of concept and mentoring from accomplished entrepreneurs.”
EvoNexus, Southern California’s leading start-up incubator, also conducted due diligence on Grolltex prior to the Company’s admission into this highly sought-after program. As an EvoNexus portfolio company Grolltex has unmatched access to mentors, an expansive angel investor network, and many touch points in traditional venture capital.
Co-Founder, Aliaksandr Zaretski concluded “We are pleased with the financial support and technical acumen of Triton and we welcome Larry Morgan who is a seasoned executive and entrepreneur to the board of Grolltex.”
About Grolltex: Grolltex manufactures high quality advance materials for commercial use in a wide variety of high technology products. With their patented processes, they can deliver high quality materials answers tailored to customer’s stringent and unique requirements, faster and more profitably.
About Triton Technology Fund: Triton Technology Fund (TTF) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vertical Venture Partners (VVP). TTF invests in companies commercializing technologies being developed at UC San Diego (UCSD) or by UCSD alumni. Companies can originate in any school including, for example, Jacobs School of Engineering, Rady School of Management, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, or the Medical School. Technology areas of interest include cloud applications, analytics, social media, mobile, materials, medical devices, digital health, instruments and cloud software infrastructure. Of particular interest are technologies that can be matched with a targeted vertical market. For more information, interested parties may contact TTF at info@tritontechnologyfund.com.
About Vertical Venture Partners: Vertical Venture Partners is a venture capital firm focused on investments in companies that target specific vertical markets. Some vertical markets of interest include Retail, Healthcare, Transportation, Insurance, Financial Services and Telecommunications. Some technology areas of interest include: analytical applications, cloud applications, mobile, vertical CRM, cyber-security and software infrastructure. Vertical Venture Partners will invest at any stage of a company’s growth and can help companies accelerate their business. For more information, interested parties may contact VVP at info@verticalventurepartners.com.
About the von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center: The von Liebig Center is a nationally recognized Proof of Concept Center with a mission to accelerate the commercialization of university discoveries. Housed at UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering since its founding in 2002, the von Liebig Center has helped more than 200 innovator teams conduct proof of concept studies and market research through a combination of gap funding, expert mentorship and entrepreneurial education. To date, the Center has helped launched more than 45 startup companies.
Contact:
Doreen Thawley
Vertical Venture Partners
doreen@verticalventurepartners.com