Buffalo Business First: Manufacturing startup closes on $5 million in growth-based funding

Re-post from Buffalo Business First

CleanFiber has raised $5 million in private funding to expand its manufacturing capacity and expand its sales efforts.

The company is led by CEO Jonathan Strimling. It operates from a 60,000-square-foot factory in Lackawanna where it turns recycled cardboard into building insulation.

The company came to Buffalo in 2017 after winning an award in the 43North business competition.

“We are looking to expand our production capabilities and to ramp sales,” Strimling said. “We’re having a strong reception from our customers and our investors are excited about the prospect of further expansion.”

CleanFiber has millions of dollars in pre-orders and is sold out well into 2020, Strimling said. At full capacity, the company expects to produce about three million bags of insulation each year and have between 30 to 35 full-time employees. CleanFiber currently has 18 employees.

CleanFiber had previously raised more than $15 million in private funding, pushing its total funding amount to $20 million. Local investors include the Buffalo Angels fund, Kevin Christner’s Richmond Capital Partners and the Western New York Impact Investment Fund. The new round was led by IFG Asset Management. IFG managing partner Turner Smith accepted a seat on the company’s board.

CleanFiber is the 14th locally-based company to confirm private, growth-oriented investments this year. Others include Torch Labs ($10 million), OmniSeq ($8.89 million), Squire Technologies ($8 million), Utilant ($7.5 million), SomaDetect ($2 million), Forsake ($1.5 million), Circuit Clinical ($1.2 million), Ru’s Pierogi ($500,000), EagleHawk ($400,000), Buffalo Automation ($375,000), Patient Pattern ($150,000), AirExpert (undisclosed) and OnCore Golf (undisclosed).