Aerox, a Spanish start-up specialized in the design of polymers for the wind-power industry, closed 2018 taking a step further in its ambitious business plan: the opening of its North American branch, Aerox North America LLC.
“The North American wind-power sector is a very dynamic market, highly demanding in terms of quality and service level. It is therefore virtually essential to have a local presence in order to be competitive,” said Raúl Cortés, the company’s CEO. The operation was coordinated by Aktion Legal Partners, a regular adviser to Aerox, and Garrigues through its office in New York.
Aerox’s technology solves some of the greatest challenges faced by the industry today, such as the protection of the leading edge of blades, due to the progressive increase in the size of wind turbines. Aerox has been marketing its products in the U.S. since 2018, and, following the recent opening of its branch, it plans to carry out the strategic implementation of a production unit in the U.S. in 2019. The company has undergone rapid international expansion, with a presence in Europe, Asia (where it already has a logistics center in China) and, finally, North America.
“Our business plan was to strengthen our supply chain in North America to ensure sustainable growth in this major strategic area for the sector in the coming years,” Cortés said.
The company has raised more than 1.7 million euros between public and private financing since 2017. After an initial capital increase in 2015, investors from Tech Transfer UPV, a fund promoted by the Social Council of the Universitat Politècnica de València and the asset manager Clave Mayor, completed the second financing round of the company between 2017 and 2018, with the aim of meeting the needs arising from international expansion.
In addition to the exponential growth in its turnover, 2018 was a successful year for Aerox’s new developments. Aerox received 1 million euros of financing in the first half of the year by the European Union’s SME Instrument H2020 for its LEP4BLADES project, which focuses on the industrial scaling of Aerox’s most disruptive innovation: A patented technology to protect the leading edge of wind turbine blades working under extreme operating conditions. This helps extend the wind turbine blade service life up to three times, compared to other solutions on the market.
More info www.aerox.es
