Forge Nano raises $20M Series A, preps for move to Louisville

LOUISVILLE — Broomfield-based Forge Nano on Thursday announced that it has raised a $20 million Series A round of funding that will help the company move to a larger facility in Louisville and scale up production.

Forge Nano makes precision nano-coating technology for the manufacture of lithium-ion battery components. The coatings help lengthen battery life and provide other benefits related to safety and faster charge times. The company works with large battery manufacturers — some of the biggest of which include companies such as LG, Samsung, Sony and Panasonic.

Cofounder and CEO Paul Lichty said in an interview Thursday that the company’s plan is to move into a 12,000-square-foot space at 1172 Century Drive in Louisville on Monday.

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Forge Nano, formerly known as PneumatiCoat Technologies, has been operating out of 7180 17th Ave. in Broomfield. The move will help the company increase manufacturing capacity from its current 30-ton-per-year pilot plant to a 300-ton-per-year light commercial production plant.

“It’s probably going to maintain as our headquarters, and then we’ll take some of that larger-scale production and find a new place for it,” Lichty said of the new Louisville facility.

Lichty said he’s hoping to have the Louisville plant operational and validated early next year. At that point, the company will start designing a 3,000-ton-per-year heavy commercial production plant that it would hope to have operational sometime in 2018. That plant would help the company produce at volumes and price points that make large-scale integration into the lithium-ion market feasible.

Lichty said Forge Nano would look to build out the 3,000-ton-per-year plant locally as well, though its production systems could also be built onsite for battery manufacturers, with Forge Nano’s technology then licensed to them.

Lichty cofounded Forge Nano in 2013 with fellow engineers Dave King and James Trevey. The company’s technology was developed while the trio was working on doctoral degrees at the University of Colorado. The company bought the patents from CU, and had bootstrapped the company on about $10,000 to this point.

Lichty said the company does between $1 million and $2 million in annual revenue, but is projecting sales to hit $10 million next year with the new Louisville facility.

Forge Nano employs 17 people. Lichty said that numbers should be at 20 by the end of this year and could grow as large as 40 by the end of next year if sales projections prove accurate. Most of the added jobs would be for engineers and technicians.

Maryland-based Townsend Capital led Forge Nano’s new funding round.

“We are thrilled to have an investment partner with an established track record share our vision and help us accelerate our development to integrate this technology into commercial products,” Lichty said in a news release.