HZO Announces New Funding to Fuel Innovation & Growth

Posted on July 1st, 2014 by Ryan Moore

HZO CLOSES $20 MILLION IN GROWTH ROUND TO ACCELERATE BUSINESS EXPANSION

Growth capital will be used to fund the rapid expansion of HZO’s global business and its protective technology solutions.

Draper, UT – (June 30, 2014) – HZO, Inc., the leader in next generation liquid protection technologies for electronics, today announced it has secured $20 million in an oversubscribed round of Series B growth funding. This new funding allows the company to expand its aggressive plans to provide liquid and corrosion protection solutions to OEMs across multiple industries including consumer and industrial electronics, wearable technology, medical, and military devices.

“Over the last twelve months, HZO has experienced very strong customer demand engaging with many of the largest electronics companies in the world,” said Michael Bartholomeusz, CEO of HZO. “We are working with OEMs and their contract manufacturers across the globe to deploy our liquid, corrosion and moisture proofing solutions for their products. This growth capital raise gives us the ability to provide more world-class proximity design and support centers, decrease the time-to-market for new, innovative and transformative next-generation solutions and accelerate expansion of our global footprint with current and new customers.”

This current round of funding was raised at an increased valuation from the previous round and led by Iron Gate Capital along with follow-on investments from Translink Capital and Delta Electronics as new investors.  Existing investors including Harris & Harris Group, Prudence Holdings, and VY Capital also participated in the financing.

As manufacturers and consumers become increasingly dependent on electronics across all facets of their businesses and lives, HZO provides the definitive solution to protect all sensitive internal components from adverse conditions and environments, including prolonged liquid immersion. To date, HZO has developed protection solutions for over 150 products across consumer electronics, life sciences, military and wide-ranging industrial applications including automotive, aerospace, oil and gas, and unmanned aerial vehicles.

“Waterproofing electronic devices is becoming an increasingly necessary requirement for OEMs and brands in the markets HZO serves. The company’s product is patent protected, proven and best in class and the business is experiencing a tremendous velocity of growth,” said Ryan Pollock, Iron Gate Capital Managing Partner. “The company has uniquely cracked the code for deploying a commercially and economically feasible way to render electronics safe from prolonged exposure to, and immersion in, water, liquids, and corrosives. Our diligence confirmed that HZO is the only company with both the technology and trade secrets to serve the needs of brands, OEMs and their contract manufacturers. We, and the newly formed syndicate of investors, are excited to partner with Michael and his team.”

“We are very pleased with the final syndicate that is investing in HZO and were fortunate to be able to select the right constituency of U.S. and global financial and strategic investors with deep domain expertise and an ability to help us execute our growth plans,” noted Bartholomeusz. “This process confirmed through rigorous diligence that our solution is unique, industry leading and game-changing. Simply put, HZO’s patented liquid proofing technology revolutionizes when and where electronics can be used.”

 Additional Information

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About HZO

HZO is changing where people use electronics. As the total solutions leader in submersible thin film protective technology for any kind of electronic assembly, device or component, the company’s end-to-end solution has scaled to high-volume applications that produce millions of protected devices annually. HZO has set the world standard in full submersion protection against all kinds of liquids and corrosives. Winner of the 2012 CES Innovations Design and Engineering Award, the 2013 Stevie Award for Best New Product, the 2014 Stevie Award China for Best New Technology, and Best Technology and Best in Show Awards at Wearable Tech Expo in 2013, HZO has been named one of the Top-Ten Emerging Nano-Companies in the U.S. in each of the past two years. HZO has broadly protected its technology, filing over 139 patent applications.  The company has offices in San Jose, CA, Draper, UT, Japan, and China.  Visit hzo.com for more information.

About Iron Gate Capital

Iron Gate Capital, LLC (IGC) is a private equity firm created by proven operating executives to invest their capital in companies at the growth stage of their life cycle.  IGC is surrounded by an impressive group of private investors that include current or retired CEOs and Presidents of highly successful companies across a range of industries. IGC seeks to reduce capital risk by selecting opportunities that have a proven revenue model or income producing assets and are managed by executives with industry expertise.  Iron Gate’s partners and investors are entrepreneurs and operators, who invest their own capital in portfolio companies and get behind each investment with their expertise and relationships.

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