Q: Where did the original idea come from?

A: From 2019 to 2022 NASA Engineer Rawand Rasheed worked with a NASA team to develop a novel new technology for dealing with the aftermath of fighting fires in zero gravity. This new type of filter, manufactured with 3D printing techniques, helped removed liquids and remove harmful particles from the air before they could reach astronauts’ lungs.

While at the NASA Johnson Space Center, Rawand decided to pursue his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Rice University in Houston. He was supported by a fellowship from the Department of Energy to continue developing the new filter system for Earth-based applications. At Rice, Rawand was selected to take part in the inaugural cohort of the Innovation Fellows program, a program hosted by Rice’s entrepreneurship center that helps PhD students and Postdocs commercialize their research. At Rice, he met Brad Husick, a Rice Astrophysicist and Columbia MBA with four successful tech startups under his belt, reaching a combined market value of more than $10 BB. Brad encouraged Rawand to enter the business plan competition in 2022. Rawand competed against 84 other startup teams and won first place with $35,000 in non-equity financing.

A Startup Is Born

In September 2022, Rawand and Brad incorporated Helix Earth Technologies, Inc. (HET), a cleantech startup focused on Earth-based applications of the novel filter technology. The technology was named the Helix MICRA™ (Multiplexed Inertial Coalescence Refining Apparatus) filter.

Q: What problems do you plan to solve in the world?

A:

1. Saving Energy in Air Conditioning Systems

Globally, more than 50% of the energy used in air conditioning systems is devoted to removing humidity, typically called the latent load. HET is developing Helix MICRA™ dehumidifier systems that can dehumidify air before reaching AC systems, substantially reducing the latent load on AC systems and saving more than 50% of the energy used. On a global basis, this can save $100 billion a year in energy costs and cut CO2 emissions by > 1 Gt CO2 per year.

2. CO2 Capture

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a significant greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. Many industrial corporations are developing CO2 capture plants but need help meeting market demand. Current technologies are also expensive to implement, typically costing more than $100 million per project. The Helix MICRA™ filter system can be configured to capture CO2 in chemically active droplets of liquid introduced into an airstream containing CO2. Our systems have the potential to be 8-10x smaller than the existing state of the art, which can significantly reduce capital and operating costs for these systems. Such a system can help meet the growing demand for CO2 capture plants and open avenues for implementation in previously difficult-to-service markets.

3. Demisters

Most industrial chemical processes involving liquids and gasses can produce droplets of liquid that, if allowed to enter the atmosphere, would be harmful or dangerous. In addition to detrimental environmental impacts, liquid losses substantially increase the operating costs of liquid-gas chemical systems. Today’s approach to capturing these droplets involves demisters, which currently use alternating metal plates that inertially separate droplets from the air when the air is forced over the surfaces. The Helix MICRA™ filter systems can be implemented in demister processes and achieve higher capture rates at substantially lower energy costs.

4. Scrubbers (Pollution Control)

The Helix MICRA™ pollutant capture system can be designed to remove numerous pollutants from a gas. For example, cargo ships burning bunker oil produce copious amounts of waste sulfur that get exhausted into the atmosphere. Traditional removal methods involve scrubbers that can be very expensive to purchase and operate. Helix foresees a game-changing solution. The Helix MICRA™ system also enables transformational solutions for capturing pollutants from heavy industrial processes, including volatile organic compounds, chlorides and fluorides, and sulfur.

Investing in scientific research and engineers at NASA has again shown that the rewards here on Earth can be orders of magnitude greater than the investment.

Successful startups begin with a clear focus on achieving success with one product for one market and proving the technology and the team. This is the path we will follow with HVAC. Given sufficient funding and market-specific personnel, HET can develop products to address these 4 markets in an overlapping development cycle since they share the same core technology, and R&D efforts will be leveraged across projects where applicable.

Q: Who are your customers?

A: Our initial end-customers are building owners and operators looking to save money and cut their CO2 footprint. We will sell through existing HVAC channels.

Q: What’s the Value Proposition for end-customers?

A: Add-on Helix, save energy and CO2, it pays for itself in 4 years or less.

Q: Who created the IP?

A: Rawand invented the core technology with his team at NASA.

Q: Who owns the IP?

A: Rawand is a named inventor on the patent held by NASA. Helix is executing an exclusive license for the first patent. Helix filed a subsequent larger patent in June, 2023.

Q: What’s the current state of your IP?

A: We believe…

Q: What does the IP cover?

A: blah, blah

Q: What is the core technology that makes your company new?

A: blah, blah

Q: What is the core technology that makes your company new?

A: blah, blah

Q: How much experimental data do you have to back up your models?

A: blah, blah

Q: How long do your filters last?

A: blah, blah

Q: What desiccant regeneration method are you using?

A: blah, blah

Q: What other markets can your technology be applied to?

A: blah, blah

Q: Do you plan on doing any computational modeling to optimize your systems?

A: blah, blah

Q: What assumptions are built into your proforma P&L?

A: blah, blah

Q: What’s your current monthly burn rate? What will it be post-funding?

A: blah, blah

Q: How many months of runway do you have in the bank at the current burn?

A: blah, blah

Q: What roles are the co-founders responsible for?

A: blah, blah

Q: Who else is in the core team?

A: blah, blah

Q: What are your hiring plans?

A: blah, blah

Q: How much cash have you raised so far?

A: blah, blah

Q: What were the terms of that raise?

A: blah, blah

Q: How much money are you raising now?

A: blah, blah

Q: How do you look at your valuation?

A: blah, blah

Q: How do you plan to manufacture your first 100 units?

A: blah, blah

Q: How do you plan to scale beyond 100 units?

A: blah, blah

Q: How do you plan to make larger filters (> 24”x24”)?

A: blah, blah

Q: How do you position Helix Earth Technologies?

A: blah, blah

Q: What does your brand stand for?

A: blah, blah

Q: How do you plan to sell your products?

A: blah, blah

Q: What about the concern with voiding warranties for packaged units?

A: blah, blah

Q: Where does this next fundraise take you as a company?

A: blah, blah

Q: How do you plan on approaching other markets with your technology, for example, CO2 capture?

A: blah, blah

Q: Who do you see as your competitors?

A: blah, blah

Q: What makes you stand out?

A: blah, blah

Q: Why do you believe you will win against them?

A: blah, blah