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SAN FRANCISCO – Carbice Corp., the Atlanta startup that developed Carbice Carbon, a thermal-management material for spacecraft and other applications, raised $15 million in a Series A investment round led by Downing Ventures, a division of London-based investment management firm Downing LLP.
Carbice Carbon, a carbon nanotube-based material designed to lower device temperatures and dissipate heat, has been integrated in geostationary communications satellites and synthetic aperture radar satellites. The company bills Carbice Carbon as “the highest heat conducting material in the world.”
With the latest investments, Carbice plans to hire sales and marketing personnel in addition to expanding production to meet demand, according to a Nov. 23 news release.
Since Carbice was founded in 2017 by Baratunde Cola, who co-founded and co-directs the Heat Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Material Science and Engineering, the startup has received grants the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, Georgia Research Alliance and National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research Program.
“Carbice Carbon eliminates the biggest headache and risk factor facing the satellite industry for the last 35 years — thermal glue,” Cola told SpaceNews by email. “Thermal glue is difficult to apply, takes days to cure, and is very difficult to rework. Yet for 35-plus years the entire industry has been struggling with thermal glue for payload integration because of no viable alternative.”
By switching from thermal glue to Carbice Carbon, prime contractors can save “hundreds of dollars per square inch of thermal interface,” Cola said. Geostationary satellites “can have over 50,000 square inches of thermal interface” and satellites destined for low Earth orbit “can have 1,000s,” he added.
Warren Rogers, Downing Ventures partner, said in a statement, “Carbice Carbon is nothing short of revolutionary and will completely disrupt thermal management in every industry.”
Along with its latest investment round, Carbice announced that Hal Laskey, a former IBM executive, is the joining the company as chief operating officer and Bianca Cefalo, former Airbus thermal products lead, will be the company’s International Business Development director.