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Today at a glance:

• Introducing geCKo Materials

• Detailing their business model, tech, traction and team

• Why do we need this now?

• How you can help them!

-  Angelica 💜

Featured Startup: geCKo Materials

How Was geCKo Materials Born?

Biomimicry was started by a collaboration between Capella Kerst’s PhD advisor at Stanford and UC Berkeley about 20 years ago. They first studied the gecko and its ability to climb smooth vertical surfaces. What they found was that it was a microstructure not suction nor excretion that allowed the gecko to perform such feats.

After 15 years of research and various man-made versions of the gecko toe hairs called setae, Capella (CEO) joined the lab. She worked on various applications and researched ultimately patenting a method for mass production of the microstructures. Capella spun out geCKo Materials from her PhD.

Headquarters

Campbell, California

Technology

geCKo Materials produces a new bio-inspired, directional, dry adhesive that utilizes microstructures to create a strong, reusable, and low profile hold which allows users to attach or detach in milliseconds without any external energy or force. It comes in a twelve square inch sheet that can easily be cut or trimmed down using a blade. Their adhesive is proudly sourced and manufactured in the United States, and is commercially available for direct purchase through their website.

geCKo Materials’ dry adhesive is unique in that it requires no force or energy to engage or disengage, can grip up to 120 kPa in shear, be reused over 120k times without any degradation, and won’t leave any surface residue or marring. In addition, it can function in any barometric environment, including space. No other adhesive can function in this collective manner, including similar products like Velcro, suction cups, magnets, tape, and other biomimicry nano-tapes.

geCKo Materials’ dry adhesive addresses important problems by eliminating costly, subpar, and frequently discarded adhesive solutions which contribute immensely to landfills, water supply contamination, noise pollution, and depletes natural, financial, and labor resources. Their adhesive provides an easily integrated, more articulate, and more durable hold for most applications, and, unlike most of their competitors, functions in space.

Business Model

geCKo Materials is a well funded 2 year old start up with established customers and Small Business Innovation Research contracts focused on expanding their product awareness and capabilities, selling their products to targeted R&D thought leaders in the aerospace, defense, space and robotic industries that can most benefit from their Dry Adhesive, while cultivating lighthouse accounts and maximizing their manufacturing efficiency to ramp reoccurring commercial orders between 2023-2025.

Traction

• Lead investor is Anthropocene Ventures

• Purchased by NASA, Ford, Honda + others

• Their manufacturing line is up and running

• SBIR Phase 2 with the Space Force and Air Force.

• Selling into the following industries:

  • manufacturers

  • semi-conductor

  • space

  • military

Founder

Capella Kerst - CEO

Capella is the Founder and CEO of geCKo Materials. She spun the company out of her PhD research dissertation and is passionate about energy saving devices for manufacturing lines, robots, CVTs, and more.

Socials

@geckomaterials

What can geCKo Materials pick up this week? 🦎 See what we pick up this week on our mini series! What item should we pick up next?? Drop a ... See more

Why Now?

geCKo Materials produces an energy saving adhesive on a mass scale.

Although gecko-inspired dry adhesives have been an active research topic for almost 20 years with numerous applications, none have been implemented as an industry norm.

One reason behind this discrepancy is that the adhesives remain difficult to produce and are primarily fabricated essentially by hand, using exacting micro-fabrication techniques.

The one dry adhesive that is readily available today is based on a comparatively simple geometry consisting of a dense array of microscopic pillars with slightly flared tips. This geometry lends itself to the creation of durable molds for high volume production, and fast molding processes.

In contrast, directional adhesives, which have some practical advantages including the ability to control the amount of adhesion by varying the shear load, remain essentially an artisanal product, requiring roughly a full day to produce one 8x12 cm sample of material. Moreover, the molds used to create these samples last only a few cycles.

When directional adhesives can now be manufactured at high volume and low cost, they, like velcro, could find a wide range of new applications, thereby spurring further refinement and differentiation of the technology. geCKo Materials has the IP and working prototype to achieve scale and mass production.

How Can The Community Help?

Customers

geCKo Materials is looking for more customers in their initial go-to-market industries; manufacturing, space and military.

Hiring

geCKo Materials is looking to add a Founding Mechanical Engineer to their team.

Interns

Interns are always welcome at geCKo Materials!

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