A local tech company has scored a fresh round of financing to get its latest gadget a step closer to commercialization.
Ashland-based Marz Industries created a device that uses hydrogen fuel cell technology to improve the fuel consumption and emissions of big-rig trucks.
The company launched in 2008 as the first tenant in the Dominion Resources Greentech Incubator with its focus on a different technology, but the economy derailed that idea. So President Eddie Miller went back to the drawing table, and investors liked what they saw.
Development of the latest gadget, dubbed the Marz Ranger Fuel Efficiency System, helped attract an undisclosed amount of cash from private investors and a loan from the Center of Innovative Technology.
Armed with the money, Miller and Marz are testing the product on the road with the hope of confirming that the technology is ready for full-scale production.
BizSense caught up last week with Miller, 51, to discuss why he had to table his company’s original product and why this latest round of financing likely won’t be the last.
The following is an edited transcript.
Richmond BizSense: What exactly does the new product do?
Eddie Miller: It reduces fuel consumption in large trucks. We are using reverse fuel cell technology. It’s space-age technology developed over the last 30 years. We’re going to take water from a tank and electricity from the truck and create hydrogen. Then we’ll introduce that hydrogen back into the intake of the truck to improve the combustion.
RBS: Is this similar to hydrogen fuel cell technology that the big automakers have been trying to make a reality for regular cars?
EM: Pure fuel cell would have you stop at a station and fill up with hydrogen. Automakers would love it. But the infrastructure doesn’t exist yet.
RBS: What did the first product do, and why did you scrap it?
EM: Our previous product was a fuel cell system for the trucking industry to combat anti-idling issues and cooling and heating. That was developed and put aside because the economy was not in place properly for the trucking industry to purchase that unit. Last August, we made a hard decision. We still have that on the back burner.
RBS: Where did the idea for the new product come from?
EM: Last year federal agencies made a proposal to improve fuel mileage for the trucking industry. This new device was buried into that previous unit. We switched gears and changed our business plan ever so slightly and proceeded with this raise that we just closed on.
RBS: What will the capital allow you to do?
EM: This will allow us to put units into fleets for fleet validation and put us in commercialized levels of production. We have plans in this phase to get two units into at least two long haul fleets. We’ll do baseline readings for about 30 days.
RBS: How will you know if the technology really works? What kind of fuel savings will you need to show these truckers?
EM: The validation is really from the fleet owner. It needs to work from the bottom line that he can show a payback. We’re looking at fuel mileage improvements in the 10 percent range. We’ve been given numbers from different fleets that they need 1 to 10 percent.
RBS: How big is the potential market for something like this? How competitive is it?
EM: It’s a huge market. Fleets are looking for this. The trucking industry is really looking to get some kind of competitive edge. Competition is low. There are 2.6 million Class A trucks [in the United States]. I’m not going to project forward on what the revenue stream is going to be. It’s a substantial stream. We just have to prove it and get it validated on fleets.
RBS: Is this the first time the company raised capital?
EM: We had a first raise almost four years ago to help develop the initial product. We were trying to make a second raise to get that product to commercialization. That’s when the economy got us.
RBS: Will you need more money for investors to move to full-scale production?
EM: We’ll need another raise to get us into a larger facility and do a ramp up. Our goal is to stay in the Richmond area.
RBS: Are there any other gadgets up your sleeve?
EM: We have a number of iterations of this in the pipeline, but we’ll be focused on this product.
Michael Schwartz is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to [email protected].
A local tech company has scored a fresh round of financing to get its latest gadget a step closer to commercialization.
Ashland-based Marz Industries created a device that uses hydrogen fuel cell technology to improve the fuel consumption and emissions of big-rig trucks.
The company launched in 2008 as the first tenant in the Dominion Resources Greentech Incubator with its focus on a different technology, but the economy derailed that idea. So President Eddie Miller went back to the drawing table, and investors liked what they saw.
Development of the latest gadget, dubbed the Marz Ranger Fuel Efficiency System, helped attract an undisclosed amount of cash from private investors and a loan from the Center of Innovative Technology.
Armed with the money, Miller and Marz are testing the product on the road with the hope of confirming that the technology is ready for full-scale production.
BizSense caught up last week with Miller, 51, to discuss why he had to table his company’s original product and why this latest round of financing likely won’t be the last.
The following is an edited transcript.
Richmond BizSense: What exactly does the new product do?
Eddie Miller: It reduces fuel consumption in large trucks. We are using reverse fuel cell technology. It’s space-age technology developed over the last 30 years. We’re going to take water from a tank and electricity from the truck and create hydrogen. Then we’ll introduce that hydrogen back into the intake of the truck to improve the combustion.
RBS: Is this similar to hydrogen fuel cell technology that the big automakers have been trying to make a reality for regular cars?
EM: Pure fuel cell would have you stop at a station and fill up with hydrogen. Automakers would love it. But the infrastructure doesn’t exist yet.
RBS: What did the first product do, and why did you scrap it?
EM: Our previous product was a fuel cell system for the trucking industry to combat anti-idling issues and cooling and heating. That was developed and put aside because the economy was not in place properly for the trucking industry to purchase that unit. Last August, we made a hard decision. We still have that on the back burner.
RBS: Where did the idea for the new product come from?
EM: Last year federal agencies made a proposal to improve fuel mileage for the trucking industry. This new device was buried into that previous unit. We switched gears and changed our business plan ever so slightly and proceeded with this raise that we just closed on.
RBS: What will the capital allow you to do?
EM: This will allow us to put units into fleets for fleet validation and put us in commercialized levels of production. We have plans in this phase to get two units into at least two long haul fleets. We’ll do baseline readings for about 30 days.
RBS: How will you know if the technology really works? What kind of fuel savings will you need to show these truckers?
EM: The validation is really from the fleet owner. It needs to work from the bottom line that he can show a payback. We’re looking at fuel mileage improvements in the 10 percent range. We’ve been given numbers from different fleets that they need 1 to 10 percent.
RBS: How big is the potential market for something like this? How competitive is it?
EM: It’s a huge market. Fleets are looking for this. The trucking industry is really looking to get some kind of competitive edge. Competition is low. There are 2.6 million Class A trucks [in the United States]. I’m not going to project forward on what the revenue stream is going to be. It’s a substantial stream. We just have to prove it and get it validated on fleets.
RBS: Is this the first time the company raised capital?
EM: We had a first raise almost four years ago to help develop the initial product. We were trying to make a second raise to get that product to commercialization. That’s when the economy got us.
RBS: Will you need more money for investors to move to full-scale production?
EM: We’ll need another raise to get us into a larger facility and do a ramp up. Our goal is to stay in the Richmond area.
RBS: Are there any other gadgets up your sleeve?
EM: We have a number of iterations of this in the pipeline, but we’ll be focused on this product.
Michael Schwartz is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to [email protected].