RTP startup bioMASON launches $18M fund raiser, lands first $5M

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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – bioMASON, the Triangle startup seeking to remake the cement and other construction materials industry, is looking to build a bigger future with a fundraising round aimed at securing $18 million.

And the company led by CEO Ginger Dosier is off to a strong start.

According to an SEC filing on Monday, bioMASON has already secured nearly $5 million from one investor.

The company did not disclose plans for the funding but noted it is all equity. bioMason also does not expect the funding to last more than a year.

Vivian Doelling, NCBiotech’s Vice President of Emerging Company Development, moderated a recent panel with Joseph Nixon of Locus Biosciences, Ginger Dosier of BioMASON, and Frank Sorgi of FLAG Therapeutics.

 

Dating back to 2013, bioMASON has rasied $2 million in capital and another $3.4 million in debt.

Here’s how the company explains its technology:

“bioMASON’s technology uses microorganisms to grow biocement™ based construction materials. The Company’s products include proprietary manufacturing processes and materials used by licensing partners for incorporation in existing facilities or on-site manufacturing. The strength of biocement™ materials is comparable to traditional masonry, and is used as a green alternative. bioMASON’s products are produced in ambient temperatures using locally available materials.

“bioMASON enables savings in energy costs and zero carbon emissions.”

An estimated 1.23 trillion bricks are manufactured every year, resulting in approximately 800 million tons of carbon emissions due to the fossil fuels required in the firing process.

But BioMason, which is based in the Research Triangle Park, believes it can reduce carbon dioxide emissions. It uses bacteria to “grow” a durable cement in ambient temperatures between loose grains of aggregate. That process produces building materials without emitting greenhouse gases and without the depletion of non-renewable resources.

The company won the 2013 Dutch Postcode Lottery Green Challenge, one of the world’s largest and longest-running start-up competitions focused on sustainable businesses

bioMASON was founded by Dosier.

Prior to starting the company, Dosier was an assistant professor of architecture at the American University of Sharjah College of Architecture, Art and Design, in the United Arab Emirates. Prior to that, Dosier was a visiting assistant professor at the North Carolina State University College of Design.

Read the full filing online. 

(North Carolina Business News Wire contributed to this report.)

Source: WRAL TechWire