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Print Edition StoriesFriday, October 30, 2009
Strict emissions control fuels Rypos’ $8M funding, growth
By Jackie Noblett
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A Holliston company has big plans to capitalize on stringent air-emissions standards for diesel engines and is receiving new attention from investors because of it.
Rypos Inc., a 12-year-old technology development firm, announced its first round of outside financing last week — an $8 million Series A financing from Los Angeles cleantech investor Craton Equity Partners. The announcement comes on the heels of Rypos’ doubling of manufacturing space in Holliston earlier this year.
The company makes a device that attaches to a diesel engine’s exhaust system and filters particulate matter out before it is expelled into the air. Company officials say moves by the California Air Resources Board and others to force companies to cut their diesel emissions have created a huge market for its technology.
“We’ve been experiencing pretty rapid growth in the past few months, and recognizing to support the growth we needed to scale operations, we decided to seek out outside funding,” said Peter Bransfield, Rypos’ president and CEO.
The vast majority of that growth has come from California, which recently adopted some of the most stringent standards for air emissions, particularly ones from a variety of diesel engines. Starting this year, operators of diesel engines must report their units to the state and begin the process of cutting emissions from diesel engines. The emissions can be cut either by phasing out older engines or by installing emissions-control devices.
Rypos spent nearly eight years developing its filtration technology. Bransfield came to the company in 2007, when it first recorded revenue from sales of the devices.
Filters range in price from $4,000 for a truck filter to more than $100,000 for a filter attached to a large generator, Bransfield said.
About 80 percent of Rypos’ sales are to California customers. The company primarily targets transport refrigeration units and diesel generators.
“While we’re on the road, we’re in the transportation refrigeration space, and we enjoy that space exclusively,” Bransfield said.
Bransfield would not discuss the company’s revenue but said it turned a profit in the second quarter.
Rypos began looking for outside investment about seven to eight months ago and came across Craton, which invests strictly in clean technology ventures.
“What we are seeing out here is explosive growth for (diesel) emissions-controls devices,” said Bob MacDonald, managing partner of Craton and now a director of Rypos.
The company already has boosted its head count significantly this year, employing 41 people now compared with 18 a year ago. About 80 percent of those new hires were in production or skilled assembly positions to go along with Rypos’ new and larger production facility, Bransfield said. He added that the fresh investment will likely result in more hiring, both in manufacturing as well as sales and business development.
The company is looking to expand its “small sales office” in Torrance, Calif., to a larger branch office for both sales and service functions, he said.
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