Self Cleaning Surfaces by NanoTouch
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The use of nanotechnology to create materials that exhibit unique properties is appealing to investors. One company developing nanotechnology-enabled surfaces that are self-cleaning and that reduce microbials is NanoTouch.
About NanoTouch
Virginia based NanoTouch is a company that started out 3 years ago with the two founders, Dennis Hackemeyer and Mark Sisson, having an idea to develop a continuously self-cleaning surface using nanotechnology. The company is currently owned by a privately held company but offers private investors the option of investing directly with NanoTouch. The company had a first-round offering to the public for 10% of the company (10 shares 1% each) of which all have been claimed at an undisclosed price. The company has a second round which just started for another 10% (ten 1% shares at $30,000 each) giving the company an implied market cap of only $3 million.
Value Proposition
NanoTouch’s value proposition is simple. The company provides a continuously self-cleaning surface which is applied to a unique adhesive-backed fabric and is durable, cleanable, removable and disposable.
The effectiveness of the company’s antimicrobial technology has been verified by independent lab tests and they provide a comparison of their technology versus traditional antimicrobials. NanoTouch claims that most surfaces will last 6 or even 12 months, but high traffic touchpoints or those in critical healthcare settings might benefit from replacement every 60-90 days. Just recently, the largest private school in Virginia outfitted all their primary door touchpoints with NanoSeptic skins, deployed ultra-durable counter mats at their reception desks, and outfitted their entire computer lab with NanoSeptic mousepads.
Conclusion
The appeal here is a company with a unique value proposition and low implied market cap which enables investors with the option to invest directly in the company. However, the fact that the technology is patent-pending raises the question of just how many barriers to entry exist for other companies that may exist which target the same market opportunities. NanoTouch filed a provisional patent application in December of 2011 and, after updating to include new product developments, they filed the final utility patent application in December of 2012.
For those high net worth investors who are not so risk-averse, NanoTouch may merit a closer look. The co-founder of NanoTouch, Mark Sisson, was quick to provide detailed answers to our questions concerning his company and would no doubt be equally accommodating for potential investors.
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We invested in NanoTouch earlier this year in their first round offering. They are certified as a Qualified Business Investment in the state of Virginia which provides a 50% tax credit for investors. We essentially got a 50% return on our investment in the first year.