Date: Jun 21, 2010 Source: bizjournals (
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Larry Rowland left his job as a project leader at GE Global Research to build a tech startup into a successful business.
Four years later, the president and owner of Aymont Technology Inc. in Ballston Spa is ready to start selling his first product, silicon carbide chips.
Aymont's revenue is expected to double this year to more than $500,000 based on sales to universities, government labs and research and development arms of industrial firms.
Its two-inch and three-inch wafers are stepping stones as Rowland continues to develop a four-inch wafer that could be used in electronic components and switches for military vehicles, aircraft and automobiles.
The larger wafer would allow Aymont to tap into a $1 billion market.
"I'm pretty confident that I will be selling the four-inch wafers by September 2011," Rowland said.
The company has captured the attention of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which approved a $75,000 grant for Aymont to continue its four-inch wafer development.
"We look for products that are in development. We are not looking for off-the-shelf technology," said Miriam Pye, senior project manager of NYSERDA's industrial research arm.
The industrial research program receives about 90 grant applications a year and fewer than half get funded, Pye said.
Aymont was one of the companies that had both the technology background and business acumen necessary to convince NYSERDA to take a chance, Pye said.
"You can have the best technology in the world, but you need to have the ability to get it to market," she said.
Rowland, who has invested roughly $300,000 in cash to get the business going, said he had been planning to seek private investors two years ago when the recession hit.
"I decided then to wait for two things," Rowland said. "I wanted to wait for economic conditions to improve and I wanted to have stable cash flow where we were bringing in what we spend."
Now, he's beginning to seek investors at the same time he begins to start selling his two-inch and three-inch wafers. The company also has produced silicon carbide light detectors which could be used in water purification systems, Rowland said.
Sales of the detectors is a smaller market, he said. He expects to begin marketing them next year.
Rowland, sole owner of the company, said Aymont currently has one employee and plans to begin hiring in the next quarter. Once the four-inch wafer is available he expects his staff to grow quickly, reaching a dozen by the end of 2011 and close to 30 by 2012.
