IsoTruss completes $4.5 million Series A funding round
Funding accelerates carbon fiber cell tower rollout, targeting industries including telecom infrastructure, aerospace, civil infrastructure, energy and construction for further growth.
IsoTruss carbon fiber cell tower. Photo Credit: IsoTruss Inc.
IsoTruss Inc. (Springville, Utah, U.S.) announces that it has raised $4.5 million in a Series A funding round. The funds will be used to scale up operations and accelerate production of the company’s patented IsoTruss carbon fiber cell towers in support of 5G rollout by telecom infrastructure providers. According to Statista, 5G is forecast to cover approximately 60% of the world’s population in 2026.
The Series A round, led by the S.G. Koenig Trust, follows a $3 million seed investment round led by Sojitz Corp. in October 2020.
“This funding commitment demonstrates the enthusiasm for cost-effective, sustainable IsoTruss carbon fiber lattice cell towers, while strengthening our strategy to increase market share in the communications tower business,” says Nathan D. Rich, founder and CEO, IsoTruss Inc. “Our innovative IsoTruss lattice grid designs require less carbon fiber to fabricate a tower as compared to steel towers, which allows us to further tighten the price gap and compete with traditional steel build-outs, while offering additional added value.”
IsoTruss composite lattice structures are up to twelve times stronger than steel for a given weight, or as little as one-twelfth the weight for a given load, depending on the design for a site, and its specifications. They have also been designed, engineered and tested to last at least five times longer than steel towers (read more about the structures, “Isotruss carbon fiber cell towers support global demand for 5G telecom rollout”).
“With commodity prices, particularly steel, going higher, IsoTruss products become more competitive at the time of the initial purchase,” adds Cromwell Wong, COO, IsoTruss Inc. “We estimate U.S. tower construction build-out to be $30 billion in total value over the next five years domestically, and many more billions globally.” Consequently, the total cost of ownership (TCO) reported to be lower, and on the environmental side, carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by 70% or more over the tower’s lifespan.
In spring 2022, IsoTruss Inc. will open its second manufacturing facility, in Pampanga, Philippines, to further ramp up IsoTruss production, which are well-suited to hurricane/typhoon-prone regions. The new facility will allow the enterprise to meet increasing demand for 5G in the Philippines and other countries located in Southeast Asia.
Further, as of last year, IsoTruss received a $100,000 Phase 1 funding award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for research and development (R&D) of a reinforced concrete foundation for telecommunication towers to increase resiliency to natural disasters, which followed additional government R&D grants.
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