WattGlass Secures Investment Funding From Venture Capital Firm

University Relations

Corey Thompson, founder and CEO of WattGlass.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – WattGlass, an Arkansas-based startup, has secured Series A investment funding from DSM Venturing to commercialize WattGlass's anti-reflective, anti-soiling coating for solar panels.

WattGlass was a winner of the 2016 SunRISE TechBridge Challenge, a competition organized by Royal DSM, Fraunhofer, and Greentown Labs, to realize innovations in solar energy. The six-month immersive SunRISE program furthered a relationship between WattGlass and DSM Venturing that resulted in the Series A investment.

Series A funding is the first round of investment that a startup receives from a venture capital firm in exchange for shares of stock in the company.

"DSM is a leader in our market and has extensive experience developing and commercializing material-based solutions for high-tech markets," said Corey Thompson, CEO of WattGlass. "This funding provides us the resources needed to commercialize the research we are conducting with grants from the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy to bring our novel product to customers."

WattGlass was founded in 2014 by four Arkansas-based entrepreneurs to commercialize technology developed by Thompson during his doctoral research under Min Zou, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Arkansas and holder of a 21st Century Professorship. The technology allows WattGlass to deposit a high performance antireflective coating using water-based chemistry that is cheaper than current alternatives, while also providing a self-cleaning and anti-fog surface that has applications in solar and other markets.