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Image credits: PlasmaBound

PlasmaBound, a University College Dublin (UCD) spin-off that focuses on lightweight technologies, announced on Sunday that it has secured €2.35M in a funding round led by Act Venture Capital. Other investors, including Atlantic Bridge University Fund, Enterprise Ireland, and several private investors, also participated. 

PlasmaBound says it will use the funds to accelerate towards enabling its vision of sustainable lightweight materials being a standard feature on vehicles, devices, and structures globally. 

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Alan Barry, CEO of PlasmaBound, says, “Our technology is about getting more renewable, lightweight materials into use faster as we seek a more sustainable carbon-reduced future. We are excited to continue our rapidly accelerating journey toward enabling these materials to be standard on vehicles, structures, and devices. Right now this is limited by cost and complexity to only high-tech applications or premium price points, with limited real environmental impact. Pushing recyclable composites into mainstream mass production will move the dial on all our efforts for a sustainable tomorrow. This funding signals confidence in this opportunity.”

PlasmaBound: What you need to know

Dr. James Nicholas Barry, Alan Barry, and Xavier Montibert founded PlasmaBound as a spin-out from the UCD College of Engineering and Architecture following the completion of Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Funding in 2017.

The company has developed a technology that helps composite materials lose weight with a positive focus on carbon emission and sustainability. 

The Irish company’s patent-pending technology, Controlled Polymer Ablation (CPA), enables high-speed bonding of ultra-lightweight fiber-reinforced materials in a manner similar to welding in metals. The technology is deployed in a SaaS model, with term-based licensing.

“CPA technology will accelerate the use of these lightweight composite materials into multi-material structural assemblies by enabling reliable adhesive joining, which is stronger than the composite structures themselves,” says the company. 

This method will collapse operational cycle times, extend shelf-life, and reduce manufacturing waste streams while improving bond strengths.

The Dublin-based company is targeting global enterprises that are aggressively pursuing lightweighting opportunities to meet current and future carbon emissions and fuel efficiencies requirements, such as OEMs in the Automotive, Aerospace, and Mass Transport sectors. 

PlasmBound’s technology is bolstered by three key features: 

• No waste production
• Reduced reliance on metal fasteners 
• Lower production cost through operation simplification

As a result, vehicles will become lighter at lower cost, effort, and waste. Through Enterprise Ireland and InterTradeIreland support, PlasmaBound is currently engaged with five global OEMs and is supporting ÉirLoop, Ireland’s entry to the SpaceX Hyperloop competition.

Investor

Act Venture Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that partners with founders starting out and established teams scaling their growth. The company focuses on innovative, category-defining companies in large markets. 

John O’Sullivan, General Partner at Act Venture Capital, says, “The level of real-world plasma control achieved with CPA will let industries use composites ubiquitously, cost-effectively, and creatively – it will enable a big step forward in composite material use. Something I think the sector has been waiting for.’’