February 11, 2020
Purdue-affiliated Adranos Inc. closes $1 million funding round
The Adranos team, (from left) Chris Stoker, Brandon Terry and Matthew Crawley, won the grand prize at the Army’s inaugural xTechSearch competition. (Image provided)
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – In less than one week after opening the round, Adranos Inc., a Purdue University-affiliated company developing a novel high-performance, solid rocket fuel for long-range missile and space launch systems, oversubscribed its target raise by $250,000 to a total of $1 million.
“We knew that there was a lot of interest in our company but were shocked with both the speed and amount of the funding that was offered to us. We actually had to turn several interested investors away,” said Chris Stoker, Adranos’ CEO.
Following its successful launch of a prototype rocket and corresponding grand prize award at the Army’s inaugural xTechSearch competition, Stoker said that additional funding was necessary to add key team members and scale up Adranos’ manufacturing capabilities.
One of these team members was Stefan Coburn, who joined Adranos as its vice president of business development and strategy. Coburn previously worked at Blue Origin and led efforts to commercialize both New Shepard, a reusable suborbital launch vehicle, and New Glenn, a reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle. Coburn holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a degree in chemical engineering from Brigham Young University.
Stefan Coburn, who joined Adranos as its vice president of business development and strategy, previously worked at Blue Origin. (Image provided)
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Stoker said the $1 million came from a group of investors, including the lead investor from Adranos’ prior round, Archibald Cox Jr. Cox is the chairman of Sextant Group Inc., a private investment firm, and is the former chairman of Barclays of America and former CEO of Morgan Stanley International and various other companies.
To date, Adranos has raised more than $2 million in public and private funds to advance its interests.
Technology used by Adranos is licensed through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization, which patented the technology.
About Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization
The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities through commercializing, licensing and protecting Purdue intellectual property. The office recently moved into the Convergence Center for Innovation and Collaboration in Discovery Park District, located on the west side of the Purdue campus. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Contact otcip@prf.org for more information.
Writer: Chris Adam, cladam@prf.org
Source: Chris Stoker, contact@adranos.com
