Water technology company ZwitterCo has named a new chief financial officer as the company prepares for the opening of its innovation center and new product launches.
Christopher Ling, the former CFO of Waltham-based Veo Robotics Inc., is the new top financial leader at ZwitterCo.
Woburn-based ZwitterCo uses membrane technology to help companies clean and recycle water in such industries as agriculture and bioprocessing.
Alex Rappaport, the co-founder and CEO of ZwitterCo, likened its technology to a coffee filter, except ZwitterCo’s filter can handle millions of gallons a day of wastewater. It can also handle materials like oils, greases, animal products and other manufacturing byproducts, Rappaport said. Because of the chemistry the company uses for its membranes, Rappaport said the filters don’t need to be constantly replaced.
“What nonstick cookware did for the cookware industry, we’re doing for filters and water treatment,” Rappaport said.
$33M in funding, a shelf full of awards
Rappaport said the company has already commercialized its first product and has several more products close to launching.
Rappaport helped bring the startup to life through the Tufts Ideas Competition and the Tufts $100K New Ventures Competition. The company went on to receive funding from the Water Catalyst Challenge through MassCEC; a federal Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR, grant through the National Science Foundation; and the Water Innovation Grand Challenge with the U.S. Department of Energy.
Last September, the company announced a $33 million Series A investment round. Rappaport called it the largest Series A investment funding round ever for a water technology company.
Rappaport said one outcome of that funding was a 30,000-square-foot production complex in Woburn.
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“(Here) we are taking that core technology that we’ve licensed and really pushing the boundaries on technology development and product prototyping so that we can bring new tools and new services into the hands of our customers and partners,” Rappaport said.
A ribbon-cutting is being planned for the facility in the middle of 2023.
Rappaport said the company is “well financed,” but there is a long road ahead in terms of additional hardware and team development.
“(Ling) is absolutely taking the reins on all things finance strategy and how we’re going to think about continuing to grow the company and tango with even more fun and far-flung investment financing partners,” Rappaport said.
'At an inflection point'
While at Veo, Ling helped the company reach product commercialization and closed multiple funding rounds. Prior to Veo, he worked at The Boston Consulting Group, FTI Consulting and KPMG.
Ling said one of his priorities for this year is preparing the company for the scaling up it plans over the next few years. At just over 50 employees, Ling said ZwitterCo is at an “inflection point.” Once companies grow much larger, Ling said they can’t get away with informal channels and processes for how things get done.
“In our case, our customers tend to be global leaders in what they do, so that’s a wonderful opportunity. But those companies require infrastructure to be able to plug in to support them,” Ling said.
The company is also preparing to launch new products and partnerships, and Ling will be working on the business model for how these new offerings will get to market.
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