Blue Hill-based Hydro-Photon raises $3M
Photo / Courtesy of Hydro-Photon Inc
Hydro-Photon Inc.'s SteriPEN Class 3 water purification device.
Hydro-Photon Inc., a Blue Hill developer of ultraviolet technology for portable devices that can purify drinking water, has raised $3 million of a $4 million equity offering, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission document.
The company plans to use the equity from an investor for new products and new business development, Neil MacKay, president of the company, told Mainebiz. It raised $2 million in 2009 to expand its business.
Miles Maiden, an avid outdoorsman, started the company because he thought there were better ways to purify water in the wild than filters or chemicals, according to the company’s website. He focused on using the same type of ultraviolet-C technology used in municipal water treatment plants.
The company started selling its SteriPEN portable purification device in 2001. It holds 38 patents, including eight U.S. patents and others throughout the world. About 15% of revenues are overseas, not including Canada, MacKay said, declining to give revenue numbers. The company employs 15 people.
The product is sold through REI, Amazon and other retailers. In 2011 it was named one of Time magazine’s “Top 100 All-Time Gadgets.”
The company claims the handheld device destroys viruses, bacteria and protozoa, including Giardia and Cryptosporidium, when held inside a liter of water for 90 seconds. A separate filter for a water bottle can screen out sand and other sediments, he said.
Depending on the model, it runs from $50 for a home emergency kit model to $165 for a high-end military version. Only the military version is made in Blue Hill and Gouldsboro, with the others manufactured outside Maine because of cost and other issues, he said.
Hydro-Photon said most models can be reused to purify more than 2,100 gallons (8,000 liters) of water. The smallest version of the device can fit into a shirt pocket, MacKay said, averaging 1-inch wide, 5-inches long and ¾-inches thick. Various versions of the product weigh from 2.6 ounces to 7 ounces.
Competitors include the Katadyn Pocket Micro, a high-end system running $286 to $700, all the way to a low-end filtration system called the LifeStraw for $25 and even tablets dissolved into water.
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