Modumetal CEO Christina Lomasney
Modumetal CEO Christina Lomasney

Modumetal, the Seattle-based startup that’s developing a new class of nanolayered materials that are stronger, lighter and less corrosive than steel, has raised a large round of venture financing that it will use to take advantage of opportunities in the oil and gas industry, GeekWire has learned.

According to a SEC filing, Modumetal raised $26.6 million of a $33.8 million round. The filing also lists Aaron VanDevender — a partner at Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund who serves as chief scientist of the venture firm — and Steve Singh — the CEO of Concur — as directors.

Modumetal CEO Christina Lomasney declined to comment on specific investors or the amount the company is raising in this round, saying that she expects the deal to be completed in the coming weeks.

The involvement of Founders Fund is significant since the San Francisco-based firm places big bets on contrarian companies that have the ability to create their own sectors. Their portfolio includes companies such as SpaceX, Lyft, Palantir and Nanotronics Imaging, and VanDevender has been involved in cutting-edge technologies such as DNA sequencing and quantum mechanics.

Like Lomasney, he’s a trained physicist.

Modumetal certainly falls into the camp of potentially ground-breaking technology. Here’s what Lomasney told GeekWire upon the company’s selection as a Seattle 10 startup finalist in 2013.

“Across the Bronze Age, the Iron Age and even through the Age of Steel, manufacturing has depended on heat-based processing. Modumetal is shifting away from the heat-based source of energy in metals manufacturing, using a patented process with electricity as its energy source to create an entirely new class of nano-layered materials that is redefining the performance of metals at competitive cost, for industrial scale applications.”

Aaron
Aaron VanDevender

With the recent changes in gas prices, Lomasney tells GeekWire that there has been strong interest in Modumetal’s nanolaminated coatings, claddings and alloys, which can be used to reduce corrosion in oil pipelines as one example. Corrosion of industrial parts causes big losses for companies, so Lomasney said it is a “really big deal to extend the longevity of these assets.”

She said some of the parts manufactured with Modumetal’s patented technologies have been in the field for several years, and the company continues to win new business.

“We are seeing interest across a number of industrial sectors,” said Lomasney, a University of Washington trained physicist who previously worked at Boeing.

Previous backers of the company include Second Avenue Partners; Catamount Ventures; Chevron Technology Ventures and others. Lomasney said she would not disclose previous amounts of funding raised for competitive reasons. She also declined to disclose the number of employees working at the company, which is based in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood.

Steve Singh
Concur CEO Steve Singh at the Technology Alliance annual luncheon

Last year, the company announced plans for a new production facility in Snohomish County in part because of the demand from oil and gas companies.

“By using our patented coating and cladding technology in demanding, highly corrosive and punishing environments, we are demonstrating significant improvements in the performance, durability and longevity of oil-producing assets, all while maintaining cost competitiveness with commodity metal products,” Lomasney said at the time.

Concur CEO Steve Singh, who joined the board of Modumetal in 2012, specifically noted the accomplishments of Lomasney during his fireside chat at the Tech Alliance luncheon in Seattle last Friday.

He called Modumetal a “great company” that has the ability to change in society by solving a big problem.

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