A Seattle-area materials science company, M9 Defense, raised $1.4 million in a series A round, a new SEC filing revealed.
According to the company’s website: its core product, Boroclave presses, use hydroforming technology to mass-produce ballistic and non-ballistic composites. The company claims the composites it uses have the highest strength to weight ratios available in today’s market, and can be formed into products at speeds comparable to that of sheet metal processing.
Hydroforming typically involves filling tubes (made of composites like aluminum) with fluid, and increasing fluid pressure to expand the tube-material to match a mold, even a complicated one, in one or two manufacturing steps. Automotovie companies from BMW to Hyunda-Kia motor group have used hydroforming to make more fuel efficient vehicle parts.
M9 Defense sells to defense, transportation, and energy industry players that are seeking to use lighter, stronger materials — and less of them — to build cars, aircraft, vehicles, body armor, blades for wind turbines, telephone poles and satellites.