Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups working on innovative solutions in the materials sector. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we want to share our insights with you. This time, you will discover 5 promising coating solutions.
Heat Map: 5 Top Coating Solutions
Using our StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering 1.379.000+ startups & scaleups globally, we looked at innovation in the field of materials. For this research, we identified 144 relevant solutions and picked 5 to showcase below. These companies were chosen based on a data-driven startup scouting approach, taking into account factors such as location, founding year, and relevance of technology, among others. Depending on your specific criteria, the top picks might look entirely different.
The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 5 startups & scaleups developing innovative coating solutions. Moreover, the Heat Map reveals regions that observe a high startup activity and illustrates the geographic distribution of all 144 companies we analyzed for this specific topic.
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VOGAMAKINA Industrial Plants – Electrostatic Powder Coating Equipment
Electrical components undergo a certain level of deterioration due to fluctuations in electricity and wear and tear due to heavy usage. The application of electrostatic powder coating on wires reduces this deterioration and improves the overall safety standards. Startups develop innovative material coating solutions to bolster the life and functionalities of materials.
Turkish startup VOGAMAKINA Industrial Plants manufactures electrostatic powder coating equipment. The startup’s product portfolio includes VM VG1-VN, a manual fast color change type powder coating equipment. The solution is movable, and the body compromises of a console and a chassis with a vibration table for the powder box. The startup enables powder suction with the help of a conductive pipe to maintain seamless fluidization inside the powder box. VOGAMAKINA also manufactures fully demountable powder coating guns. With the help of an improved trigger system, the startup enables the minimization of failure risks.
acatechol – Anti-Microbial Coatings
Advancements in the materials industry such as antimicrobial coatings for surfaces help improve durability and corrosion resistance. In addition, antimicrobial chemical agents prevent the growth of disease-causing microbes. Antimicrobial coatings find applications across multiple industries such as pharma, healthcare, and even textiles. Startups and scaleups develop antimicrobial coating solutions that prevent the growth of harmful microbes.
The US-based startup acatechol uses catechol, a unique chemical residue that exists in biological organisms, to create surface treatment technologies. The startup uses catechol in antifouling and antimicrobial coating technology for medical devices and dental devices such as catheters and clear aligners. Moreover, the startup has licenses for wet-bonding and on-demand debonding technologies for dental procedures. The startup also provides bio-inspired surface priming and bonding technology to enhance wet-adhesion. The adhesive and coating technology is non-toxic, injectable, non-hydrogel, zero swelling degree, anti-pathogenic, and biocompatible.
Yuniversum – Waterproof & Fireproof Coatings
The construction industry is another application area for material coatings as buildings require protection against various parameters such as sunlight, humidity, and electrical conductivity. Poorly constructed electrical systems in buildings are prone to electrical fires. Many organizations use material coatings to improve the structural integrity of concrete to withstand water seepage and electrical fires. Materials startups develop waterproof and fireproof coatings for the construction industry.
Russian scaleup Yuniversum creates material coating products for waterproofing, repelling fire, for use in adhesives and sealants, and to prevent corrosion. With the help of PROOFING-2 UNIVERSUM, a two-component and highly elastic material, the startup provides a cement-based waterproof coating that protects concrete and masonry. The startup’s solutions also include coatings that protect concrete, metals, and wooden structures from fires.
NuMat Medtech – Medical Implant Coating
The healthcare industry benefits immensely from bioactive coatings that enhance the functionalities of medical implants. Advances in the materials industry enable medical implant companies to design products that seamlessly integrate hard and soft tissue in patients and enable faster recovery from medical procedures. For instance, material coating solutions for dental implants that exhibit anti-inflammatory properties reduce complications following surgery.
Spanish startup NuMat Medtech offers a bioactive nanocoating technology for medical implants. The startup’s coatings enable soft and hard tissue integration while significantly reducing inflammation and other risks of infections. The startup’s coatings provide combined functional activities while being highly cost-effective and sustainable. NM_973, the startup’s lead product, is a bioactive nanosurface modified with a flavonoid. The modification imparts the surface with osteogenic, osteoinductive, anti-inflammatory, and anti-fibrotic properties. As a result, the coating provides the required time for the reduction of bacterial colonization around implant surfaces.
RadiSurf – Polymer Brushes
Polymer brushes are special macromolecular structures with polymer chains densely tethered to another polymer chain. Nowadays, polymer brushes are increasingly used in surface modification technologies to enhance the functionality at the molecular level. Startups develop different kinds of polymer brushes for applications in molecular material adhesion.
Danish startup RadiSurf provides molecular adhesion technology for the materials industry. The startup grows polymer brushes with the help of a two-step process using proprietary nano primer chemical kits. Polymer brushes that are tethering with other surfaces act as a chemically bonded polymeric nanolayer to provide a completely new set of surface functionalities. Additionally, the surfaces with polymer brushes are stable, dry, and usable even after months in storage.
What about the other 139 solutions?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence and enable you to achieve your goals faster. The 5 coating solutions showcased above are promising examples out of the 144 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria, get in touch.
