Hexigone (Swansea, Wales), a U.K.-based manufacturing start-up, has received a $1.2 million investment to expand global sales of the company’s smart corrosion inhibitors. This investment comes from new investors, namely the British Business Bank Future Fund and Enterprise Investment Scheme, as well as continued support from existing investors Development Bank of Wales, Armourers & Brasiers, Sunnybarn Investments, and Hexigone Chairman Owen Sennitt.
The cash injection comes at a critical time for Hexigone with recent technical validations leading to commercial sales. The company is also on the verge of completing major deals with two multi-billion-pound coating industry giants in Asia, following an ambitious global sales strategy.
“We are delighted to reinvest and provide further support to the Hexigone team as they begin to scale the business for the future,” says Phil Buck, chairman for Sunnybarn Investments. “This anti- corrosion technology will be soon adopted by the coatings market and will become the industry gold standard within five years.”
Hexigone’s smart, self-healing inhibitors are able to protect metals for up to ten times longer than competing products, and also serves as a high-performance, non-toxic alternative. The company projects worldwide demand for inhibitors to reach £6.7 billion in 2021, encompassing the aerospace, automotive, architectural, and energy sectors.
The company’s smart technology delivers superior protection of metal surfaces and are designed to respond to corrosive attack when it occurs by allowing the coating to protect the metal underneath in a more intelligent way. Independent testing has proven that the technology vastly reduces maintenance costs, which, in turn, reduces the drain on natural resources. Hexigone’s technology has been shown to increase metal asset longevity as well as increase the coating life cycle of a tank by seven years.
“This investment positions Hexigone for huge levels of growth in 2021, and we are extremely excited about the next phase of commercial ramp-up,” says Patrick Dodds, founder and CEO of Hexigone. “Over 40 prospective clients are formulating with our product—with lengthy technical validations currently being completed. We hope to be working collaboratively with these customers to deliver smart coatings across the globe in 2021 and beyond.”
Dodds adds that the company is planning a series A raise later this year and will solicit enquiries from venture capital firms to execute its commercial expansion and manufacturing scale-up.