This week, Kentucky water infrastructure startup PowerTech announced that it has raised funds in an oversubscribed Series B venture capital round led by HG Ventures. PowerTech says the capital raised will be used to meet rising demand for its sustainable industrial water treatment, accelerate corporate partnerships, and expand operations from its home base in Lexington.
PowerTech has developed a suite of water treatment technologies, chief among them ElectraMet, which uses chemical-free carbon electrode technology to treat and purify industrial wastewater, removing heavy metals such as lead, copper, manganese, iron, zinc, nickel and cobalt, and doing so with minimal capital expenditure and low operating costs for the client.
Their approach aims to disrupt conventional labor-intensive, chemical-based water treatment processes that have become standard in recent decades. PowerTech hopes ElectraMet will play a key role in modernizing wastewater treatment and reducing waste for manufacturers, municipalities and mines. According to PowerTech, ElectraMet water treatment systems are currently in use across North America by metal finishers, electronics manufacturers, recyclers and automotive suppliers.
“In 2021, US-based manufacturing has picked up, and the demand for ElectraMet systems skyrocketed. We are pleased to partner with HG Ventures, the State of Kentucky, and the local Bluegrass Angel Network in this Series B financing round to expand our capabilities and meet the demand,” PowerTech CEO Cameron Lippert said in announcing the round.
“We are excited to support Dr. Lippert and his team as they scale their business and establish themselves as a market leader in on-site water treatment,” said Ginger Rothrock of HG Ventures, the Corporate Venture arm of The Heritage Group. “This team and technology solution are positioned to deliver automation, sustainability, and efficiency to a sector where innovation has lagged.”
“The Bluegrass Angels have been involved with PowerTech Water since 2013, and we are excited to participate in this new round of funding. We look forward to their continued success building their business and creating new jobs here in Kentucky,” said Chris Young, Chairman of the Bluegrass Angels, an angel investor network that supports startups in the state of Kentucky.
In May, PowerTech was awarded an SBIR (Small Business Research and Development) Phase I grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, focused on selective copper recovery from industrial wastewater using ElectraMet technology.
Earlier this spring, HG Ventures partnered with Innovate UK, which directs research and innovation funding for the British government, to invest in environmentally sustainable startups in the U.K.
