Fusion Coolant Systems took second place at the
Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition and the $150,000 check that came with it. But that six-figure infusion of cash isn't the only place where money is coming from for the Ypsilanti-based start-up with significant operations in Detroit.
"It got people off the sidelines, that's for sure," says Tom Gross, CEO of
Fusion Coolant Systems. He was referring to angel investors who have been kicking the green-tech firm's tires and are now sinking money into the venture. He plans to close the start-up's initial round of investors by January.
Fusion Coolant Systems is commercializing an environmentally friendly cutting fluid for industrial uses. That technology eliminates toxic cutting fluids in metal processing for industrial sectors such as aerospace. It also improves cutting tools performance while reducing the wear.
The company recently opened a tech center at the
Focus: HOPE manufacturing facility on Detroit's west side. That is where the bulk of Fusion Coolant Systems' five employees are now based. The start-ups expects to use the Accelerate Michigan money and its newfound investor cash to hire an engineer/designer and application engineer by the new year.
"We're primarily using the money for sales and marketing," Gross says. "We're also using it to speed up the product development cycle. It allows us to meet our plan's goals, which were already ambitious to begin with."
Source: Tom Gross, CEO of Fusion Coolant Systems
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at
SEMichiganStartup.com.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.