APEX – George Adjabeng, CEO and cofounder of Ecodyst, a three-year-old, two employee company aiming to revolutionize lab technology, is off to Silicon Valley for a premier startup event with his firm having developed a head of steam and getting a chance to showcase its tech to the world.

“I must [say] what an honor to showcase our all-in-one revolutionary Ecodyst 1H Prototype to the public for the first in Silicon Valley,” Adjabeng tells WRAL TechWire.

Ecodyst to showcase new tech

He’s not necessarily looking for investors (although he will take a good deal). Rather, Adjabeng wants to hunt and find partners. And he should have a lucrative hunting ground.

Startup Grind, the global entrepreneurial organization, picked Ecodyst as one of 50 companies to participate in the Startup Grind Global 2018. The event begins today in Redwood City, Calif.

Adjabeng, a former senior scientist at GSK who earned his MBA at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, and Kwabena Williams founded the company. Their focus is on patented rotary evaporator, or rotovaps, technology. So far, the company has just two employees. But Ecodyst is growing, selling more products while continuing to develop additional ones.

In a Q&A before heading into the Valley of opportunity, Adjabeng talks about the opportunity the event presents and how his company is growing from bootstrapped to becoming a revenue producer.

  • What does being selected for the event mean to your company?

This selection is additional evidence that Ecodyst is indeed a technology company. Normally when you speak of tech companies everyone thinks of the googles, the apples, and anything computer related. But technology is much broader than computers.

Our machines are just the medium through which we bring technology to our scientists. The recognition by the Startup Grind Program is further proof that we hear to make an impact and deliver on our motto: Accelerating the path to Discovery.

Ecodyst technology

Visibility and exposure is good for any startup and being showcased on the global stage in Silicon Valley be definitely good for Ecodyst.

  • What do you hope to accomplish by participating?

We hope to interact with and learn from other entrepreneurs and leaders from across the globe. This type of conference can spark new ideas and challenge us to be more creative.

We’re going to show the tech community what we’re doing in the scientific instrument industry. The scientific instrument industry is an area that most entrepreneurs do not venture into. This is in part due to the huge capital requirements for R&D, manufacturing and distribution.

We have shown that this industry can be disrupted by entrepreneurs and that there’re ways to bring products to the market without the backing of big capital. At Ecodyst, we all about doing big things with very little.

For example, in 2016 the NC IDEA didn’t think we could build our all-in-one prototype with $50,000 grant. Although we didn’t get the grant, we actually built the prototype for less than $25,000.

When you have an innovative idea but little or no money, you are forced to find innovative ways to make the idea a reality. I’ll say that our lack of access to outside capital has been a blessing in disguise.

  • Are you seeking investors and if so how much?

No. However, we’re seeking strategic partners and will consider investment opportunities that come our way.

We bootstrapped to market, the hardest part. We’re in revenue stage now and our cash flow is not bad. We’ll take a serious look at investment opportunities that will take us to the next level such as scale-up and expansion to global markets.

  • How is business? How much gear have you sold and in how many markets/countries?

We’re growing, and last year we doubled our 2017 projected revenue and grew over 600% from 2016 sales. We introduced four products for the industrial scale market last year. These big-ticket items are doing well on the market.

We’re the only rotovap company in the world with a feasible and user friendly 72 and 100 Liter rotovaps. The largest the market leader, Buchi offers is a 50 Liter rotovap with only half the load capacity per batch.

Our industrial scale EcoChyll X7 22, 50, 72, and 100 Liter high speed evaporators are true volumes.

We sell to the US and Canadian markets and we plan to sell into the European market in the near future.

  • What’s driving demand for your technology?

The technology. It’s intuitive, easy to use, more convenient and saves money and time. It’s environmentally friendly and sustainable.

The market recognizes the value we have created. The industry was ready for new technology and we are fortunate to meet that challenge.

  • How are you funded at this point? How much have you raised?

Bootstrapped. We have not raised money. We’re in revenue/growth stage now with good cash flow.

  • Where is your equipment manufactured? Why?

We assemble here in Apex. We want to have an impact in our local community. It also makes it possible for us to be involved in the manufacturing process and ensure our quality standards are met.

We’re able to respond quickly to customer demands and make changes as need. We are fortunate to have vendors with over 79 years of experience to manufacture and supply us with parts.