As part of our Sacramento Inno coverage, the Business Journal for the first time compiled a list of Startups to Watch in the new year. These startups are poised to make big moves, either in growth, funding, technology or development. We're highlighting 13 startups, generally with fewer than 100 employees, about 5 years old or less and that have raised less than $50 million. The group includes a diverse mix of companies throughout the region.
Startup to Watch: Entexs Corp.
The rise of cannabis production for CBD is fueling sales at Diamond Springs manufacturing company Entexs Corp., which makes rapid throughput processing equipment. The 2019 startup not only processes CBD from cannabis, but last year began making modules that can remove the psychoactive compound THC from the final product.
The removal is important for the industry because CBD products must contain no more than 0.3% THC to be federally compliant. CBD, or cannabidiol, is used in a variety of legal dietary supplements, bath soaks, drinks, body lotions and food.
This is no gear for hobbyists and backyard growers. Entexs makes farm-scale and industrial-scale processing equipment. Entexs' small hemp processing systems start at around $500,000 and the large systems sell for $6.8 million, but the prices can vary depending on site planning, certification, engineering training and custom features. The CBD purification equipment can be added to the hemp processing equipment and it also can operate fully automated.
The company delivered its first hemp processing system during the pandemic. Potential customers are global, but the big markets so far are Alabama, Michigan and Oregon, as well as South America, the company said.
The basic Entexs hemp processing systems use ethanol as a solvent and then put distillates through a -80 degree Celsius chilling system to remove impurities, which stay with the spent biomass.
Most companies that make this kind of equipment outsource components, but Entexs fabricates and engineers its systems using proprietary technology and intellectual property to build systems to order. They feature touch-screen controls and allow the user to extract crude CBD or distillates. The spent biomass can then be used for paper production or other products.
