The 2016 Purdue spinout has been backed by angel investor Archibald Cox and the Ustar Tap accelerator as it seeks US defence agency-adoption for its missile propellant.
Adranos Energetics, a US-based missile propellant manufacturing spinout from Purdue University, received $800,000 on Thursday from the Utah government-backed Ustar Technology Acceleration Program (Tap) and angel investor Archibald Cox Jr.
Cox injected $600,000 of the funding and Ustar Tap provided the remaining $200,000.
Founded in 2016, Adranos is working on a propellant fuel called Alitec for long-range missiles and other military or space applications.
Alitec is formulated with an aluminium and lithium alloy that provides greater thrust and less corrosiveness than conventional solid propellants which emit toxic hydrochloric acid.
The approach is the brainchild of Adranos co-founder Brandon Terry, a former postdoctoral research assistant and PhD student of Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Adranos believes the technology will improve the range, frequency and evasiveness of missile launches, potentially offering US defence agencies and those of allied governments a strategic upper-hand.
The capital will help prepare a 50-pound mix of the fuel to match the US Department of Defense’s quality criteria and conduct certain rehearsals designed to secure Alitec’s adoption for specific systems.
Adranos has entered a US Army competition which could gain it access to senior army figures to demonstrate the product. In conjunction with his investment, Archibald Cox Jr has joined the Adranos board of directors.
Adranos previously raised $20,000 at an undisclosed date from Elevate Purdue Foundry Fund, a Purdue-sponsored early-stage vehicle which subsequently invested $80,000 in Adranos in January 2017.
