Calgary-based oil field laboratory services company Interface Fluidics has announced it has raised a Series A round of $6 million CAD ($4.5 million USD), for its nanotechnology platform that optimizes oil production.
The funding was contributed by the venture capital arm of multinational energy company Equinor and global accelerator Techstars.
“Impactful technology that is helping energy operators produce more oil with less environmental impact.”
“We have been fortunate to have incredible customers,” said Stuart Kinnear, the CEO of Interface. “This funding will be used to expand capacity to meet ongoing market demand, ensuring faster delivery to our growing customer base.”
Interface leverages technology from the biomedical industry, adapting it to the oil and gas sector. The startup calls its nanotechnology platform a “disruptive technology” that helps operators increase oil recovery while reducing environmental impact. Its oil testing technology allows operators to analyze a variety of downhole chemicals, which helps to evaluate the viability of increasing oil recovery.
“Interface has been gaining internal traction across multiple business units and across the life cycle of our assets,” said Rannfrid Skjervold, the managing director at Equinor Technology Ventures. “We see this investment as a strategic opportunity to accelerate the technology development which will result in significant [sic] increased oil recovery, revenue growth, and cost reduction to our operations.”
Interface Fluidics is also a recent graduate from the first class of the Techstars Energy Accelerator, in partnership with Equinor. The company completed the Oslo-based program in December of 2018.
“Techstars Energy selected Interface from hundreds of applicants for its impactful technology that is helping energy operators produce more oil with less environmental impact,” said Audun Abelsnes, the managing director of Techstars Energy Accelerator. “Interfaces’ technology is making a difference in how decisions are being made for multinational energy companies and we are very much looking forward to their continued success.”
Calgary has seen an increasing amount of cleantech startup financing as of late, including the Government of Canada recently announcing an investment of close to $13 million in four Calgary-based cleantech startup companies.
Image source Government of Alberta via Flickr