Heat exchanger (HX) fouling costs industry over $40 B/yr and wastes ~ 1% of total U.S. energy consumption. Nano Hydrophobics, Inc. ("Nano"), has developed a breakthrough solution -- a nano-scale thin coating that prevents fouling on HXs, and preserves their heat transfer efficiency, thus solving “the major unresolved problem of heat transfer”, coupled with a unique cloud-based energy monitoring system that tracks energy savings

Fouling Costs: $40 B/yr, waste $3 B of energy, causes 1% of US greenhouse gas emissions. Affects every manufacturing process.

Science: Fouling is caused by a natural law. Like the common experience of scale formation in kettles, the minerals come out of the water to form crystals that adhere strongly to the surface. The minerals are poor conductors of heat and create an insulating layer causing a big decline in thermal efficiency.

First Addressable Market: The 16% ($465 MM) of the gasketed-plate heat exchanger (GPHX) ($2.9 B) segment, of the overall HX market ($18.6 B). This represents GPHX users located in areas which experience heavy fouling. In addition to new sales, the installed base of GPHXs (20 X new sales) requires periodic plate replacement and is an additional market for Nano's coating.

Future Markets: Most segments of the heat exchanger market, including shell & tube, welded & brazed plate heat exchangers, cooling towers, experience fouling.

Proof-of-Concept: The coating was demonstrated at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, based on a 106 day test in an industrial HX and verified by Alfa Laval (AL).

Funding: The California Energy Commission, and the National Science Foundation. Nano is part of a peer-reviewed user program at the Molecular Foundry (foundry.lbl.gov), a DOE nano-science laboratory located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (lbl.gov). Nano has a formal partnership with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.

Business Model: License coating and HX monitoring technology to large HX OEMs and sell them the coating + establish own operations to sell OEMs a coating service.

Customers: AL considers fouling the biggest problem for HX customers. Adoption of the coating will be accelerated by a free trial, without cost or operational risk for HX operators. The value proposition for HX operators is savings up to 70% of annual operating costs.

Attractive Investment: recurring revenues, high gross profit margins 80%, low CAPEX needs. Nano's 2025 forecast is $225 MM of revenue and $172 MM of EBITDA focused on only 2% of the HX market.