Your chance to invest alongside Harvard Angels

Welcome to this week’s edition of CROWDSCALE, we’ve been sniffing out a deal for you. We’re going deep on this issue, diving into an exciting startup called Avadain:

• 💵Material Wealth: Graphene is a super material. What the heck is it?

• 💀 Eureka: The breakthrough that’s changing the game

• 🕵️‍♂️ Portfolio Pondering: Harvard Alumni angels invested…will I?

A super material has been hiding in your…pencil?

Graphite by itself isn’t an overly special material - it’s most commonly known as the brittle component in pencils.

But in 2004, a group of scientists at the University of Manchester discovered something shocking when they isolated an ultra thin layer (<10 atoms) of graphite.

The material transforms into one of the lightest, strongest, best thermal and electrical-conducting material ever discovered. The scientists dubbed this derivative of graphite as ‘graphene’, and went on to win a Nobel Prize for their findings.

It’s difficult to overstate how revolutionary this materials is.

Graphene is purportedly 200x stronger than steel. Ultra-light, a lone gram of the material could cover an entire soccer field. And it’s 100x denser than silicon, which could make it an appealing alternative in computer chips.

We’ve waited 19 years for the revolution…

With all these attributes, one would think that graphene would be in everything we touch nowadays. But that’s not the case.

To fully realize its awesome properties, comprising graphene flakes must be large (>30 µm), thin (2-5 atomic layers) and nearly defect free. That’s been damn near impossible to do on an industrial scale so far.

Things could be changing in 2023. A new startup called Avadain claims to be holding the keys to the graphene revolution - they’re also publicly raising funds at a $28M pre-money valuation.

Breaking through the flakes

I mentioned that large flakes absent of defects have been difficult to produce up until this point - Avadain is claiming a breakthrough made back in February could change things.

Their process utilizes an electrochemical process that preserves the flakes large size while greatly preventing a majority of defects. (The 3,425 word, peer-reviewed study on this process is here if you want to read it)

Mass Producing Profits

Avadain is working to replicate this process on an industrial scale, and their founder has the blueprint to cash in big if they’re successful.

Brad Larschan previously worked with a research institute to arrange the sale of their portfolio of technology patents to GE for over $150M. This time around, Larschan owns the intellectual property himself through Avadain.

He plans to employ a capital-light strategy by licensing out the technology process to advanced material manufacturers and other interested parties. This would enable Avadain to rapidly scale revenues into the millions of dollars once/if their process is complete and tested.

The stakes for the flakes are high

Graphene has endless amounts of uses due to its multiple appealing qualities. Its strength qualifies it for helmets, bulletproof vests, etc. Its lightweight nature makes it ideal for spacecraft + heavy equipment. Its conductivity means that it could replace copper and improve battery power.

You get it.

The above examples are barely scratching the surface of what’s possible with graphene. I don’t need to even look for a market cap chart with this product, that will never be the issue.

Material Progress

Avadain’s star is shining bright these days, as they’ve picked up $600,000 in angel investments, including one from the Harvard Alumni Angels Association.

The startup has also been awarded a $3.77M federal grant, and is strategically partnered with Panasonic to give it further credibility.

It also helps that their current crowdfunding campaign has vaulted over $1.4M raised from the public.

Am I Investing?

I approached this opportunity extremely skeptically. Once I heard how much of a super material graphene was made out to be, I was wary of a scam.

In my research, I stayed away from online sources that were named anything like ‘GrapheneInfo.com’ That would be like going to ‘BitcoinDaily.com’ and asking if Bitcoin’s a good investment (I’m wagging my finger as I type).

After reading numerous reputable sources and research institutions, I concluded that graphene’s potential is very real. The more pressing question mark is around Avadain being able to bring this to market at scale.

I spoke with Brad Larschan on the phone, and his grasp around graphene production was extensive. He understands the technology on a deep level, and is confident that his team can get it done.

Given his handle on the technology, experience in the IP space, and comically numerous applications of graphene - I’m willing to take a chance on Avadain.

And money where my mouth is, I invested last night!

If you’d like to find out more about investing in this startup you can check out the link below. Just note that startups are risky, this is not financial advice, and you should always conduct your own research!

Please note that this is not financial advice, nor a recommendation to invest in any of the startups mentioned. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and understand that startup investing is a risky asset class.