“Extremely strong” demand is driving CleanFiber to expand its Blasdell factory.
The company has raised $8.5 million in venture capital to support that expansion.
CleanFiber moved to Buffalo in 2017 after winning $500,000 in the 43North startup business competition (43North invested $300,000 in follow-on funding in CleanFiber in 2021). Other financial supporters locally include the Buffalo Angels and the Western New York Impact Investment Fund.
CleanFiber manufactures building insulation from recycled corrugated cardboard. The company moved into its own factory in Blasdell in late 2018 and bought the building earlier this year.
CleanFiber will use the new investment to construct a 6,000-square-foot addition to the building, making it about 67,000 square feet overall. The company has 75 employees working three shifts, seven days a week.
“The capital is to support demand we know exists from customers we’re currently serving, and to continue scaling up our operations” CEO Jon Strimling said. “We’re going to expand production at our Buffalo facility and start to lay the groundwork for future expansion.”
This is the latest in a string of financing events for CleanFiber, which raised $14 million in debt financing earlier this year and $11.9 million in venture capital last year.
CleanFiber is one of 26 local companies to acknowledge a private, growth-oriented round of funding this year. The list includes Torch Labs ($40 million), Centivo ($30 million), Circuit Clinical ($29 million), Kangarootime ($26 million), SparkCharge ($22 million), CleanFiber ($8.5 million), PostProcess Technologies ($5 million), VeriTX ($4.5 million), HELIXintel ($4 million), Blockfusion ($2.6 million), ShearShare ($2.3 million), Azuna Fresh ($2.5 million), Patient Pattern ($2 million), OneBridge Benefits ($2 million), BetterMynd ($1 million), Empire Hemp Co. ($1 million), Buffalo Film Works ($750,000), FavorDrop ($725,000), Cahill Tech ($500,000), Ellicottville Greens ($300,000), Swift Rails ($255,000) AireXpert ($125,000), Arbol ($110,000), Lemma Labs ($100,000), Timberhut (undisclosed) and Ognomy (undisclosed).
