MetOx Technologies, Inc., a Houston-based manufacturer of HTS wire, has announced the completion of a $23 million Series A funding round. Proceeds from the round will allow the company to construct an advanced production facility, with the capacity to produce approximately 1,200 kilometres per year of HTS wire, which we estimate would be roughly equal to 2020’s global supply of magnet wire. MetOx manufactures REBCO wire made by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).
MetOx Advances Manufacturing of HTS Wire at Large Scale
“HTS produced at scale will provide critical support for global energy transition, to include enabling expansion of the grid and the development of compact fusion. It will also support the development of powerful new medical devices and a myriad of other applications.” said Jim Jewitt, CEO of MetOx.
“Growing mainstream use of superconductors is creating shortages of HTS today,” said John Kermath, President and CFO of MetOx. “We believe MetOx’s advanced production system will demonstrate the solution for building a cost-effective and scalable supply of HTS over the long term.”
“While MetOx is not yet ready to share the specific performance of this wire, we have confirmed that it does meet the specifications for our potential customers for service in deep magnetic fields,” added Naga (Shashi) Shashidhar, SVP Strategy. “1200 kms/year is not enough to affect global prices, however with the growing demand for HTS that we’ve observed, this supply should contribute to increased development of HTS-enabled applications and further market expansion. While our current production capacity is limited to samples, we are targeting finished product qualification with our potential customers in 2023.”
MetOx Developing HTS Solutions for Major U.S. Utility
“There are three primary markets that have indicated interest in MetOx HTS, and already several companies planning to work with MetOx. We are actively developing HTS-enabled solutions in energy transitions with a major U.S. utility and have an agreement in place to produce wire for a leading fusion company. We have also seen interest from manufacturers of advanced MRIs,” stated Ado Umezawa, VP Sales at MetOx. “We’ve identified demand that extends beyond the current world supply of HTS, and as a company MetOx expects significant future growth beyond our near-term capabilities.”
Safar Partners Invests in Series A
Safar Partners, an investor in the Series A, highlighted the potential for MetOx’s HTS manufacturing technology to contribute to compact fusion systems. Safar Partners also invests in Commonwealth Fusion Systems.
Fort Capital Partners acted as financial advisor to MetOx with respect to the Series A round.
ABOUT METOX
Based in Houston, Texas, MetOx is a manufacturer of high temperature superconducting wire (HTS) using an enhanced and patented manufacturing process to produce and sell large quantities of HTS at prices supporting the widespread use of this advanced material. For more information, please visit: www.metoxtech.com