Intalus Raises $11M Seed Round to Scale Ceramic-Infused Metal Production

Startup Intalus raised an $11 million seed round to expand production of ceramic-infused metals, the company announced. Intalus is a materials startup that has been making these ceramic-infused metals for years. It uses waveform energy, specifically lasers, to alter the internal structure of metals and make them more resistant to heat and corrosion.

Metal performs well in many applications but melts and warps under high temperatures while water can corrode it. Ceramic withstands both heat and water, a property that protects SpaceX rockets during atmospheric reentry, yet lacks metal’s strength. Fusing the two into a single material outperforms simply layering them.

U.S. military and NASA programs. The company believes its technology could become more relevant as demands increase on advanced materials.

New methods are needed for producing energy, building chips and manufacturing products such as robotic actuators and data centers destined for space. Intalus could not have created this product without machine learning. The company says advances in datasets, algorithms and computing power are contributing to increased interest in materials science.

Semafor reported that little-known materials startups like Intalus rarely attract attention despite their deployments in elite racing, defense and space programs.