Kinetic Surface Control: Blasts onto the scene

Steve Graves, CEO

Steve Graves is taking a failed technology in the medical field and using it to hopefully launch Kinetic Surface Control into a $25 million company in the next five years.

Kinetic is developing a proprietary Drop Blast resurfacing technology that uses a high-speed jet of water and breaks it into droplets that hit a surface at supersonic speed. That produces massive pressure capable of stripping paint,corrosion, and other surface coatings from metal, concrete, or asphalt.

It was originally developed as a rapid autoclave for medical surfaces by Synergy Innovations in Lebanon, but was deemed too powerful for the stainless steel surfaces and shelved. It was revived when Synergy partnered with ArgenTechSolutions in Newmarket, which was working with the Navy on ways to efficiently remove coatings and corrosion from its vessels without the mess of grit blasting.

ArgenTech and Synergy then recruited Graves, a seasoned executive who previously co-founded a successful tech start-up, as CEO. In June, Kinetic Surface Control won the inaugural Startup Rochester Business Competition, a collaboration between the Rochester Economic Development Department and abi Innovation Hub in Manchester. The company won $10,000 as well as $7,500 in in-kind services. In September, Kinetic placed second in TechOut (presented by the NH High Tech Council and abi), winning another $30,000.

Kinetic sent a proposal to the Navy in July. It is also in talks with the Army and Air Force. It hopes to hear good news from the Navy in January. But the commercial and defense applications for Drop Blast go well beyond ships. It could be used on bridges, tanks, concrete floors, and turbine blades, Graves says. “The corrosion market alone is in excess of $2 billion,” he says. “People will be cleaning steel for the next 100 years and lots of it.”

Graves says Kinetic needs to raise about $2 million in capital to commercialize Drop Blast and is in early discussions with several angel investment groups. The company currently has two employees, and Graves estimates it will take18 months before it starts generating revenue.