With $22 million in new funding, Oros Labs co-founder and CEO Michael Markesbery said the startup will focus more on the commercial and government sides of its business.
Oros is known for jackets and outerwear insulated with technology used in astronauts' suits and on spacecraft. While Markesbery said consumer sales will remain part of the company, he hopes that its work with the Department of Defense will set a blueprint for Oros' future.
“We are 100% a material technology company where 100% of our focus is selling our materials cross functionally to three industries: consumer, commercial and government,” said Markesbery. “The apparel brand utilizes Solarcore technology in all of its products, and the apparel brand for us was a proof point for the technology, in a way, to create awareness around the technology platform of Solarcore.”
The company said in March that it had raised $22 million in its latest funding round after SEC filings initially said it received $21 million.
Solarcore is Oros’ technology that uses NASA’s aerogel tech, the lowest density thermal insulator on the planet, and is among the most insulative lightweight tech invented, according to Markesbery. The DOD started using Oros’ Solarcore technology in its tactical shelters in 2022, and Markesbery confirmed that the partnership is still alive.
He said Oros intends to use the funding to expand on its established commercial and government partnerships with the new technologies it has in the pipeline. Airbus Ventures, which led the round, is an investment arm of the aerospace company that focuses on techology investments.
“From our earliest exchanges with Michael and (Oros co-founder and Chief Operating Officer) Rithvik (Venna), we were instantly attracted by Oros Labs’ potential to serve a wide array of dual-use applications. With the flexible design of its thermal product suite, Solarcore represents the most versatile aerogel materials ever made,” said Airbus Ventures Partner Nicole Conner in a press release.
The shift doesn’t mean Oros is abandoning its consumer side. Markesbery said Solarcore is featured in products from apparel makers like Merrell and L.L. Bean, and that those collaborations will remain a priority for Oros.
“Consumer is still a massive part of our business, but (the focus will be) material sales into the consumer industry going forward,” said Markesbery.
Since moving from Cincinnati to Portland in 2019, Oros has established itself as one of the most promising apparel startups in the region, raising more than $46 million in VC funding and $10 million a federal funding.
