Adept Materials

Adept Materials is an advanced materials company that develops a patented two-layer material system providing directional vapor control, humidity regulation and temperature management. The system pairs a variable-permeability membrane, which acts as a humidity-triggered "gate," with a silica gel desiccant layer that acts as a "sponge," absorbing, redistributing and re-evaporating water vapor. Because the gate opens at high humidity on one side only, water vapor moves readily in the gate-to-sponge direction and is restricted in the reverse direction; over daily temperature and humidity cycles this produces a net vapor-pumping effect that draws moisture out of damp materials or spaces. The sponge layer also stores water in condensed form roughly ten thousand times denser than atmospheric vapor, damping humidity swings, and stores and releases latent heat in the manner of a phase change material.

The technology is offered as coatings, films and overlays that can be painted, adhered or printed onto substrates ranging from plywood to polyester, with the company stating that adoption does not require changes to conventional manufacturing or installation. Target application areas are buildings (interior wall paints, directional water-resistive barrier films and coatings, sheathing panels with integrated WRB, gypsum panels), performance and durable apparel (positioned as avoiding PFOA-type chemistries), packaging for moisture-prone products, and healthcare protective garments such as medical gowns and hazmat suits, where trapped heat and moisture cause heat exhaustion. In buildings, the company describes an overlay that keeps engineered wood products below the 80% mold growth threshold by combining high outward drying potential with retarded inward vapor diffusion. The company's first commercial product is Lilypad, a moisture-control paint and primer system.

Founding story

The core material technology was invented by physicist Derek Stein, Ph.D., a professor of physics and engineering at Brown University, in his lab in Providence, Rhode Island. Stein co-directed Team Techstyle Haus, Brown's entry with the Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Applied Sciences in Erfurt, Germany, in the 2014 Solar Decathlon Europe; the $500,000 prototype house used weatherproof fiberglass and Teflon fabric walls, met the passive house standard, used 65% less heating and cooling energy than traditional homes and withstood 130 mph winds. Studying moisture control in that highly efficient envelope led to further research on materials that let buildings reach high energy efficiency without sacrificing durability, comfort or affordability. The resulting design draws on biology and physics, mimicking a leaf's regulation of temperature and moisture through microscopic capillaries and a "vapor diode" mechanism. The company was founded in July 2018 as Techstyle Materials, Inc.

Business model

Adept Materials commercializes its material technology as products and as a platform that can be incorporated into existing building, textile, packaging and healthcare materials. Its first offering is Lilypad, a moisture-control paint and primer system sold to homeowners and builders, with a directional water-resistive barrier product under development. Development work includes pilots run with strategic investors to demonstrate product performance.

Sale of finished materials products, beginning with the Lilypad paint and primer system, alongside application of the core technology to third-party materials such as coatings, films, overlays and panels. Non-dilutive support has come from government and corporate awards including an NSF SBIR Phase I award and a DOE E-ROBOT Prize Phase I award.

Traction

Announced first closing of a $4M seed round in August 2024 with homebuilders D.R. Horton and PulteGroup as leads, alongside MassCEC and Point Cove LLC. Awards and program selections include the 2026 Edison Award Silver in Intelligent Painting Systems, a Catalyst Award, CertainTeed/Saint-Gobain inNOVAte 2019 Challenge win, DOE E-ROBOT Prize Phase I, NSF SBIR Phase I, Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator, Third Derivative cohort 24-2 and IBS Start-Up Zone selection. Materials testing has been conducted with the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the Lilypad paint and primer system reached nationwide availability in 2026. Press coverage includes TechCrunch, Fast Company, Forbes, The Boston Globe and Architectural Products.

Latest developments

Lilypad, the company's moisture-control paint and primer system, became available in 2026 and is promoted as available now on the company website; it won a 2026 Edison Award Silver in Intelligent Painting Systems and was covered by Fast Company, Forbes and The Boston Globe in early 2026. Earlier, in March 2025 the company said it was preparing to bring the paint to market, and it was selected for the IBS Start-Up Zone in 2025 and named among climatetech companies to watch by ACT. Development continues on a directional water-resistive barrier product.