The NanoSteel Company, a manufacturer
of nanostructured steel materials design, announced that General Motors
Ventures LLC has invested in the company.
GM Ventures, a General Motors
subsidiary created to invest in promising automotive technologies, joined lead
shareholders EnerTech Capital and Fairhaven Capital Partners and five existing
investors to complete the Series C financing round. Terms of the GM Ventures
investment were not disclosed.
“We are investing in NanoSteel
because of the opportunity associated with their new steel alloy technology,”
says Jon Lauckner, GM’s CTO, vice president of Global R&D, and president of
GM Ventures LLC. “Over the next several years, light-weighting of vehicles will
be a major focus area to improve fuel economy. NanoSteel’s nanostructured
alloys offer unique material characteristics that are not available today,
making them a potential game-changer.”
Through the development of
patented alloys, NanoSteel has created a new class of steel that allows
automotive engineers and designers to reduce weight through the use of thinner,
higher-strength gauges while maintaining the structural integrity needed for
safety. NanoSteel’s new steel design is an alternative to other light-weighting
materials which may cost more, require new investment in parts production and
have performance limitations.
“GM Ventures investment in
NanoSteel demonstrates its confidence in our company’s potential to achieve
widespread impact on the auto industry through our proprietary steel designs,”
says Dave Paratore, president and CEO of NanoSteel. “With the support of
General Motors’ automotive expertise and technology leadership, we can
accelerate the final phases of development of our nanostructured AHSS in the
quest to economically lightweight vehicles.”
Reducing vehicle weight is
critical to automakers in achieving higher fuel efficiencies and meeting
rigorous new U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards.
