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Blog2024: Laying the Foundation for Scale
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2024: Laying the Foundation for Scale

Jan 09 2025

As we enter 2025, we reflect on the previous year as one marked by significant milestones that will enable Mattiq’s continued growth. We grew our team, expanded our Chicago footprint, and advanced collaborative initiatives with leaders driving the chemical industry’s shift toward deploying economically attractive decarbonization solutions. We look forward to capitalizing on these successes and applying lessons learned to bolster our position as a leading innovator in the chemical sector. 

Chicago’s Emerging Tech Ecosystem

In August, we opened an office in Chicago’s Fulton Labs campus, doubling our office space to meet the needs of our growing team. We believe Chicago is an emerging hub for clean chemistry and deep tech. The Fulton Labs office space has enabled us to scale our work in electrochemical reactor engineering and expand our high-throughput experimentation platform to pioneer novel solutions in electrochemical synthesis. 

Located in the heart of Chicago’s thriving deep tech ecosystem, our new headquarters has brought us closer to other start-ups and organizations that will be essential partners in our growth journey. Throughout the year, we connected with an impressive array of companies at events like the Chemical Ventures Conference hosted at mHUB. These interactions reaffirmed our confidence in the city’s potential to lead in innovation as a burgeoning startup hub.

Chicago is also home to some of the top academic institutions in the United States, including the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, where Mattiq originated. Our co-founder and board member, Professor Chad Mirkin, was honored with The Kavli Prize in Nanoscience by The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letter, for his groundbreaking research in nanotechnology conducted at Northwestern. 

The Path To Commercialization

In 2024, we also reached key milestones in our journey toward commercialization. Notably, we announced the appointment of Duane Dickson as our Chief Commercial Officer. With decades of leadership experience in the chemical and energy industries, Duane brings a wealth of knowledge and a powerful network that will play a pivotal role in expanding our commercial reach and forging strategic partnerships.

Throughout 2024, we worked on bridging the “innovation gap” between large industrial companies and cleantech startups to accelerate climate progress. Our CEO, Jeff Erhardt, shared his perspective on this dynamic in Hydrocarbon Processing. He also participated in a panel on this topic at VERGE 2024 alongside leaders from the Rocky Mountain Institute, BASF, and Antora Energy. 

Over the course of the year, we engaged with global audiences at events such as the World Chemical Forum, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) fall meeting, the ARPA-E Innovation Summit, and the 20/15 Visioneers’s Materials Science Mega Webinar. Accordingly, Mattiq’s industrial engagement grew to new heights in 2024 as we learned from and collaborated with key players in the chemical industry.

In particular, we developed and qualified low-iridium catalysts for acidic electrochemistry across an array of industrial use cases, unlocking significantly reduced material cost without sacrificing performance. We are building on our catalyst development and electrochemical reactor engineering efforts to develop the next generation of clean electrochemical processes.

We also advanced our collaboration with the public sector, securing a Department of Energy Phase II grant to develop bi-functional catalysts for advanced electrochemical systems. These catalysts, which can run both in electrolyzer and fuel cell modes, provide operational flexibility for chemical production and power management, showcasing the broader potential of electrochemistry.

What’s Next

As we look to 2025, Mattiq anticipates continued growth fueled by the chemical industry’s demand for economically viable clean technologies. While the policy landscape remains dynamic, the economic drivers pushing producers toward ambient, modular solutions are stronger than ever. Our focus remains on delivering cost-effective innovations that make sustainability a practical choice for the chemical sector.

Stay tuned for upcoming announcements as Mattiq continues its mission to bring the chemical industry closer to a more innovative and sustainable future.

Catch up on Mattiq’s news from 2024