Start-up FriCSo - Friction Control Solutions Ltd. has raised $1.1 million from Aviv Venture Capital (formerly Fantine group). Founded a year ago, FrCSo has ten employees. It develops technology to minimize friction between moving parts, thereby enhancing the survivability of machines, engines, transmission systems, turbines, pumps, bearings, and other motion systems. The company's systems are designed for the vehicle and heavy machinery industries. Sales will begin during the coming year.
FriCSO has raised $850,000 to date from private investors and the LN Innovative Technologies Center in Haifa.
FriCSo was founded by chief R&D officer Dr. Boris Shamshidov and CTO Dr. Alexander Ignatovsky, both experts in tribology (the science of friction and wear). The company's technology saves energy, utilizes energy more effectively, and reduces maintenance and pollution. The technology comprises a stable, durable and uniform lubricant layer between the moving surfaces. This layer almost completely eliminates direct contact between moving parts, thereby significantly reducing friction. In addition to reducing friction, the innovative technology protects moving parts from excessive wear under high-load conditions, such as starting and stopping, sudden changes in direction, and when there is a shortage of lubricants.
FriCSo co-founder Benny Arbel said, "Applying the technology will enable manufacturers and users of machinery and moving parts to greatly extend the lifespan of moving systems." He added that FriCSo's technology opened new horizons for moving systems, and was a breakthrough in tribology.
Aviv Venture Capital managing partner Dr. Amir Guttman will join FriCSo's board of directors. He said, "Leading engine and machinery manufacturers in Israel and around the world are very interested in FriCSo's innovative method. The company is carrying out advanced field tests with some of them."
Guttman added, "The company has two main target markets: vehicles, a very large market, where penetration is fairly slow; and heavy machinery industries , such as shipping, oil drilling, power stations, and defense industries, where sales can be achieved during 2005."
The Aviv 1 Fund (formerly Fantine 1 Fund) manages $25 million for investing in technology companies. Guttman and managing partner Yoav Z. Chelouche run Aviv Venture Capital. 85% of the capital raised by the Aviv 1 Fund came from Israeli investors. Since April 2002, the fund has made nine investments in technology companies. It had its first exit in June 2004, when its first portfolio company, Actona, was sold to Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO) for $100 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on January 17, 2005