A Las Cruces-based company that specializes in heating technology and water treatment has extended its seed round and has a goal of raising an additional $200,000 to $300,000 by the end of the year.
The company, EVUS Inc., has already raised more than $1 million as part of its seed round. More than $200,000 came from local investors, CEO and founder Patricio Reygadas said.
“We want to close the round as soon as we can, but we're still having conversations with new investors to try to raise the money,” Reygadas said.
EVUS' technology primarily focuses on desalinating water for more efficient use in the hot water-based heating market, Reygadas said. But the desalination technology that EVUS created for the water-based heating market could also be used in other applications such as purifying brackish water, he said.
That’s something Scott Goodman, president of local venture capital firm GOS Capital and vice president of the Goodman Realty Group, found appealing when he invested $10,000 into EVUS in October.
“The technology will help make desalinization cheaper, and New Mexico has a lot of brackish water that could be useful, but it just needs to be desalinated,” Goodman said.
Goodman is part of local investments in the state that include individuals from New Mexico Angels, as well as the Arrowhead Innovation Fund. Combined, the local investments total $260,000, Reygadas said. The company also received a $25,000 startup grant this summer from the state’s Economic Development Department.
And EVUS is in a good spot to further test and develop its technology as it works with local researchers from New Mexico State University. They are also part of the National Alliance for Water Innovation, a water desalinization project sponsored by the U.S Department of Energy. As part of NAWI, the company will test its technology for desalinization of brackish water over a period of two years, Reygadas said.
“[We’re] very interested in sustainability and the environmental impact of our technology,” Reygadas said. “Because that is our main intention is to make this automation plant more affordable for smaller communities.”
