ATMOSPHERIC PLASMA SOLUTIONS RAISES $3.5M SERIES B FINANCING 

APS RAISES CAPITAL TO SUPPORT GLOBAL PRODUCT LAUNCH AND NEW TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT 

 CARY, N.C. – 6/4/2020 – Atmospheric Plasma Solutions, Inc., (“APS”) a leader in the development of technology and products that leverage the power and benefits of atmospheric plasma technology, has just closed on a $3.5M Series B financing with an existing investor.  This comes shortly after closing a convertible note round in early 2020 which raised approximately $3.2M.  “As we were wrapping up our convertible note round, our Board challenged us to think bigger and present a case for a larger investment.  I worked with Founder/CTO Peter Yancey and COO Robert Ross to develop a strategy for APS to accelerate market adoption of our newest product-line for coating removal and surface preparation, PlasmaBlast®, and more rapidly develop the next-generation of APS products.  The Series B investment allows us to initiate this plan.” said Glenn Astolfi, President and CEO of Atmospheric Plasma Solutions, Inc. 

“With the close of the Series B financing, we’ve strengthened our balance sheet, which allows us to offer leases to our customers.  As our customers look to modernize their coating removal processes, now offering leases for PlasmaBlast® allows adoption of our technology to only be an OPEX-decision.” said Ross.  APS is also actively hiring.  This year through May, four new positions have been added.  Furthermore, the company is actively recruiting additional engineering and technical support positions.  

In conjunction with the Financing Round, the APS shareholders elected three Outside Directors to the Board of Directors:  Richard “Rick” McNeel, formerly CEO of LORD Corporation, Bill Carter, former executive at Advance Auto Parts and Victra, and Retired Rear Admiral Anthony Lengerich.  CEO Glenn Astolfi stated, “I am excited and humbled to be joined by the depth and breadth of talent that we have assembled on our Board of Directors.  The management team and other stakeholders will benefit greatly from the wisdom, experience, and contacts of these former Naval officers and executives at multi-Billion-dollar companies in markets where our technologies can transform operations.” 

 About Atmospheric Plasma Solutions 

Atmospheric Plasma Solutions, Inc. (dba “AP Solutions, Inc.”) was formed in 2005 by then NCSU PhD student Peter Yancey.  For 12 years, the APS team pursued plasma science research and developed a rich portfolio of IP and initial products.  In 2016, now-CEO Glenn Astolfi joined the company and began to steer APS toward developing industrial-grade products.  Today, APS products are in use on 4 continents by customers including, but not limited to, the US Navy, US Army, pharmaceutical manufacturers and other Fortune 100 firms.  APS continues to conduct advanced plasma research in partnership with leading private companies and federal agencies.  For more information about APS visit https://www.apsplasma.com. 

 Contact Information 

Glenn Astolfi 

919-219-5047 

gastolfi@apsplasma.com 

Join on team to develop cutting edge plasma technology solutions

Find the job postings at here

Atmospheric Plasma Solutions (APS) offers a tremendous opportunity to join a fast-growing company bringing to market unique products using our patented technology. We are an established and well-funded start-up in the scale up phase of growth. Our innovative Atmospheric Plasma Coating Removal systems are already being used on 4 continents by US and Allied Nations Departments of Defense, by major universities and Fortune 200 clients. You will be working with cutting edge technology for industrial and military applications as part of a small, nimble, innovative team.

The APS management team is seeking a mid-level Software Engineer. You will design and validate embedded software for specialized equipment in industrial and government applications. This will include plasma power supplies for surface etching, air filtration, semiconductor industry and food processing. Power generators need to detect and rapidly adapt to changing plasma states. You will develop embedded real time, HMI and data acquisition software controlling switching power generators. This software will extract information from sensors using digital signal processing and implement process control functions. The software will detect faults and execute a graceful shutdown if faults are detected. The ability to program in C using a simple RTOS is required as is use of common IDEs. We prefer candidates who have experience with M7, SOC peripherals, multilayer bus systems and use of cache and multi-port memory with DMA. Also the abilities to read and modify Cortex assembly code and a knowledge of switching power generation is a plus.

Our market success means we need a Manager of Sales and Business Development who  will be leading the success of Atmospheric Plasma Solutions in selling solutions to industrial customers who will benefit from a new innovation. This job is fundamentally about selling products and achieving customer success. This will require sales prospecting, face to face selling, closing and post-sale support f large, medium and small accounts. The Sales Manager will participate alongside the executive team in business development and will help set the strategic sales plan. This role will closely interact with our R&D, Engineering and Production departments.

2019 CTMA Technology Competition winner is hitting out of the park with the Navy

The winner of the 2019 CTMA Technology Competition not only received a nice trophy for the curio case, but more importantly funding for a nine-month CTMA initiative. Atmospheric Plasma Solutions, Inc. (APS) with their PlasmaBlast® technology took home that prize. The judges at the competition immediately saw the benefits of APS’s coating removal technology and their enthusiasm has turned into “Validation of Efficiency and Effectiveness of Atmospheric Plasma Coating Removal,” an evaluation and study initiative that is taking place at Norfolk Naval Shipyard.  Why is the Navy so excited about Atmospheric Plasma Solutions?

Prior to application of new coatings, paints, sealants, and adhesives, coatings need be removed, and the substrate properly cleaned and prepared.  With over 230 ships and boats, surface preparation is a time consuming, labor intensive, yet critical step in maintaining integrity in these vessels.

APS kicked off the initiative with an informational session attended by 12 supervisors from different shops within the Shipyard. The next phase of the project included a series of APS-led demonstrations and training and certifying NNSY personnel on usage and maintenance of the tool.  The demonstrations included usage on the mock-up at the Blast & Paint Shop at Norfolk. This structure serves as a representation of surfaces found on both ships and submarines and is used as part of the on-boarding process for new personnel and skill upgrades for existing maintenance mechanics. After training, a unit was left with the Blast & Paint Shop so that they could gain experience with the tool and identify interesting use cases.

“They were very excited to see the technology in action,” says Glenn Astolfi, CEO of Atmospheric Plasma Solutions. “It is physically difficult to get spaces that form corners or get into crevices. But this technology is very effective at paint removal and in many situations is much safer to use than grit blasting, laser, or water jetting.”

Over the ensuing few months, both APS and Jaime Edwards from the Blast & Paint Shop have delivered multiple demos to various shops and trades at the yard. During these demos many potential use cases were identified to be formally evaluated.  Several coating removal jobs on the training mockup at the Blast & Paint shop and on the USS McKee (a decommissioned submarine tender) were identified as compelling use cases.

During this time, APS prepared a formal evaluation plan that NNSY certified PlasmaBlast users will execute in March 2020 to evaluate the efficacy of the process on prepared samples, shop supplied parts, the training mockup and on the USS McKee.

The primary objective of this testing will be to determine the benefits of APS’s coating removal technology and how it interacted on these various surfaces.  Consideration includes profile impact (if any), cleanliness, and adhesion of the new coating.  The purpose of this work will be to provide a set of test results that would serve as a baseline of plasma coating removal.  The difference in total process time, cleanliness, and profile from abrasive blasting or other current used removal methods will be compared with results from plasma blasting.

With Norfolk taking the lead, other DOD observers for this initiative will be: Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Letterkenny Army Depot.

The results of this assessment and evaluation will be of interest to and shared with other DOD facilities throughout the enterprise.“Through the CTMA Program, the PlasmaBlast® technology is getting the attention of key people in the Navy,” says Astolfi. “The opportunity to get on the base and talk directly to engineers and mechanics. We’re greatly encouraged in how the project is going. It’s been a really great partnership between industry and the Navy.”

The 2019 Maintenance Innovation Challenge (MIC) finalists have been announced.  From 84 entries, Atmospheric Plasma Solutions of Cary, NC has been selected as one of six finalists.  Joining APS are submissions from the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force and one other commercial company

The 2019 National Defense Strategy contains an objective to establish an unmatched twenty-first century National Security Base that effectively supports operations and sustains security and solvency. The MIC, an integral part of the 2019 DoD Maintenance Symposium, aligns well with this strategy.

The MIC aims to elevate and expand the call for maintenance innovation to include not only new technology, hardware, and software but also unique partnerships, resourcing strategies, business practices or processes that promise to make maintenance more capable, agile, and affordable.

The finalists will present their technology at the MIC and and answer questions from representatives of the DOD.

“Through the Maintenance Innovation Challenge, we seek to identify game-changing technologies that will enable the sustainment community to address warfighter readiness at best cost,” says Greg Kilchenstein, director, Enterprise Maintenance Technology, ODASD, Materiel Readiness.

The CTMA Technology Competition is a popular way to introduce the Department of Defense (DoD) to innovative maintenance and sustainment technologies and keep a pipeline of ideas flowing. The 2019 CTMA Technology Competition took place in conjunction with the CTMA Partners Meeting held at FRCSW. Over 40 companies submitted their innovative maintenance and sustainment technology abstracts with six finalists selected to present to a panel of judges during a “shark tank” presentation.

Each finalist had 10 minutes to present their technologies with an additional five minutes for questions from the panel of judges.

The Atmospheric Plasma Coating Removal presentation not only impressed the judges but will also be awarded $50,000 in funding and will participate in a one-year project.

“Readiness and sustainment fit with my company’s mission,” says Glenn Astolfi, President, Atmospheric Plasma Solutions. “I’ve seen maintenance artisans in the shipyard actually spitting grit and rubbing their arms in discomfort. Our technology will improve the quality of their lives and helps with productivity of ship sustainment. I was thrilled and proud to have the opportunity to tell Atmospheric Plasma Solution’s story. Our founder and Chief Technology Officer Peter Yancey’s technology solutions cover so many maintenance touchpoints such as safety, environmental, productivity, and value.”

The six finalists and their technologies were: Atmospheric Plasma Solutions, Inc. – Atmospheric Plasma Coating Removal; BotFactory, Inc. – BotFactor: Desktop Electronics Printing & Assembly; Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence – Hexagon Composite Inspection System; MELD Manufacturing Corporation – MELD: A Novel Solid-State Technology for Sustainment; PTC – Vuforia Augmented Reality; United States Marine Corps – T-Glass.