A new type of hemp fiber-reinforced composite panels
KELOWNA – INCA Renewable Technologies, manufacturer of natural fibre composites, announced the closing of a Series A financing of $4.5M CDN from private investors.
INCA’s Chairman and CEO, David Saltman said, “This is an important milestone for our company. This funding will enable us to complete the design and engineering of our fibre processing facility in Western Canada and our bio-composites factory in Elkhart County, Indiana. We have expanded our management team and are in active line trials with our European and North American equipment suppliers.”
INCA will utilize the team’s decades of experience in fibre processing and bio-composites manufacturing to produce compounded pellets that are intended to replace glass reinforced plastics in the production of automotive interiors and consumer products. It will also produce large dimension panels that are a direct replacement for the rainforest plywood currently used in recreational vehicles, furniture, flooring and Hollywood movie sets.
“INCA’s proprietary materials will enable our customers to produce lighter, stronger, cost competitive and far more environmentally responsible products. We think it is a winning value proposition,” added Saltman.
In August INCA signed an exclusive sales agreement with Genesis Products to supply the RV and related industries. The Company is also signing long term off-take agreements with Alberta farmers currently growing hemp for protein production. When fully operational INCA will utilize over 50,000 tonnes of biomass and turn this renewable resource into high performance materials.
INCA’s leadership team is comprised of world leaders in plant genomics, engineering and composites manufacturing. Saltman has built cleantech companies for three decades. He and CTO Gary Balthes built Flexform Technologies, the first natural fibre composites facility in North America.
Flexform currently supports programs at Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota and Tesla. Balthes went on to build the most sophisticated natural fibre composites manufacturing line in North America for Carver Non-Woven Technologies.