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Gore
Newark, US · Founded 1958 · 10,391 employees on LinkedIn · 1 known investors
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Gore is a global materials science company that manufactures high-performance fabrics, implantable medical devices, and products designed to reduce emissions and address complex industrial challenges across multiple sectors. The company operates as a privately held enterprise with operations spanning five continents.
Also known as Gore · W. L. Gore & Associates · W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
Founders & leadership
Investors · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Gore (W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.) is an American multinational manufacturing company specializing in products derived from fluoropolymers, chiefly expanded PTFE (ePTFE), which accounts for the vast majority of its products. It is privately held and headquartered in Newark, Delaware. The company is best known as the developer of the waterproof, breathable GORE-TEX fabrics, but its portfolio spans cables and assemblies, fabrics, fibers and thread, filtration and purification, gaskets and sealants, medical devices, PharmBIO products, proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology, thermal insulation and enclosure vents.
Gore sells into aerospace and defense, apparel and textiles, automotive and electrified vehicles, chemicals, electronics, energy, fire and public safety, industrial and manufacturing, life sciences, semiconductor, telecommunications, and test and measurement markets. Branded product lines include GORE-TEX consumer and professional fabrics, Gore Medical, ELIXIR Strings, SITKA Gear and the GOREWEAR brand; the GOREWEAR direct-to-consumer business has closed, with products remaining available through retail partners while stock lasts. Recent product activity includes ultralight high-speed data cables described as up to 50-60% lighter than the industry standard, GORE PolyVent High Airflow PRO screw-in enclosure vents, industrial filter bags cited at 99.99% emissions capture, high-voltage EV components and PEM technology aimed at reducing the levelized cost of hydrogen.
Beyond its core divisions, Gore runs an internal Accelerator of wholly owned "startup" teams applying lean innovation methods, whose validated concepts may join an existing Gore business, become a new Gore business, or be spun out externally. Accelerator programs include an investigational synthetic cornea device combining a transparent fluoropolymer optic with a porous ePTFE skirt for corneal opacity, and an investigational ePTFE glaucoma drainage implant intended to reduce fibrosis. Gore also invests in external companies through venture funds.
Founding story
The company was founded in 1958 in Newark, Delaware by Wilbert (Bill) Lee Gore and his wife Genevieve (Vieve) Walton Gore. Bill Gore left DuPont after 16 years, including fluoropolymer research roles, and worked in his basement on a process to insulate parallel electrical wires with PTFE. His son Robert (Bob) Gore, then in college, proposed an encapsulation method that succeeded and produced the company's first patent and its first product, Multi-Tet ribbon cable.
Business model
Gore develops, manufactures and sells engineered materials and finished components, primarily based on expanded PTFE and other fluoropolymers, to industrial and technical original equipment manufacturers, and licenses/supplies its fabric technologies to consumer and workwear brands. It also operates consumer-facing brands and an internal venture arm that both incubates new businesses and takes equity positions in outside companies.
Revenue derives from sales of materials, components and finished products across industrial, electronics, energy, medical and apparel channels; Wikipedia reports company revenue of $4.5 billion for 2022.
Traction
Wikipedia reports $4.5 billion in revenue and 12,000 employees for 2022. The company appeared on Fortune's list of the U.S. "100 Best Companies to Work For" every year from 1984 to 2017, with similar recognition for its European operations. Its venture arm has participated in multiple external financings, and its investigational synthetic cornea and glaucoma devices have advanced into clinical trial activity, including a COFEPRIS-authorized trial in Mexico.
Latest developments
Recent activity includes the launch of ultralight high-speed data cables and the GORE PolyVent High Airflow PRO enclosure vent, a 2024 enterprise sustainability update, a strategic acquisition described as strengthening the product development pipeline, and the closure of the GOREWEAR direct-to-consumer store. Gore's venture arm co-led an $11 million round for South 8 Technologies with Lockheed Martin Ventures (December 2025), anchored Membrion's $20 million Series B1 (October 2025), joined Agitated Solutions' Series B syndicate (December 2025), and joined GDI's $15 million Series A1 for silicon anode production (March 2026). Gore continues a multi-site PFOA groundwater investigation in Cecil County, Maryland with the Maryland Department of the Environment.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Gore is a long-established, privately held multinational in fluoropolymer materials, with roughly 12,000 employees and $4.5 billion of revenue reported for 2022, and its GORE-TEX brand is a widely recognized standard in waterproof, breathable membranes. Its scale and brand strength in waterproof/breathable membranes drew antitrust scrutiny in both the EU and the US during the 2010s.
Differentiation rests on proprietary expanded PTFE processing and decades of application-specific materials engineering for harsh environments, an in-house testing and prototyping capability, and an unusual flat "lattice" organizational culture in which all staff are "associates", leaders emerge through followership, and hands-on prototyping is encouraged.
Technology
The company's core technology is expanded PTFE (ePTFE), discovered by Bob Gore in 1969 when a sudden accelerating stretch of heated extruded PTFE expanded it roughly 800%, producing a microporous structure about 70% air; the material was named Gore-Tex expanded PTFE a year later. The company's first patent covered a method of encapsulating parallel electrical wires in PTFE, yielding Multi-Tet multi-conductor ribbon cable. Present-day applications include microwave RF test cables with high phase and amplitude stability, ultralight high-speed data cables, enclosure vents, filter bags, gaskets and sealants, thermal insulation, proton exchange membranes, and biocompatible ePTFE medical implants.
Go-to-market
Gore sells directly to industrial and OEM customers through category- and industry-specific product lines, and reaches consumers indirectly through licensed brand partners and retail partners for GORE-TEX products; the GOREWEAR e-commerce channel has been discontinued in favor of retail partners. Marketing includes technical product launches, trade-show and clinical-conference presence, and sustainability reporting.
Manufacturers and end users in aerospace and defense, automotive and electrified vehicles, chemicals, electronics, energy and clean hydrogen, fire and public safety, industrial and manufacturing, life sciences and medical, semiconductor, telecommunications, and test and measurement; plus apparel and footwear brands and consumers via GORE-TEX, SITKA and ELIXIR Strings.
Geography
Headquartered in Newark, Delaware, with multinational operations including European businesses. US manufacturing sites include several facilities in Cecil County, Maryland (Cherry Hill and Elk Mills in Elkton, plus Fair Hill and Appleton), where ELIXIR Strings are produced.
History
Bob Gore joined full time in 1963 after a chemical engineering PhD at the University of Minnesota and in 1969 discovered expanded PTFE, commercialized as Gore-Tex. Bill Gore introduced the "lattice" organization concept to associates in 1967 and codified culture principles in a 1976 paper. Recognition followed with the Prince Philip Award for Polymers in the Service of Mankind to Bill Gore in 1985 for the Medical Products Division, the Society of Chemical Industry's Perkin Medal to Bob Gore in 2005, and his induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006 for ePTFE. Leadership passed from Bob Gore to Charles Carroll in 2000, to Terri Kelly in 2005, to Jason Field in 2018, and to Bret Snyder, a grandson of the founders, in 2020. The company marks 65 years of innovation and the GORE-TEX brand 50 years, and remains privately held.
Risks & controversies
During the 2010s Gore was investigated by EU authorities and the US Federal Trade Commission over allegations it pressured outdoor equipment makers away from competing waterproof/breathable membrane products; Columbia and its OutDry brand filed an EU complaint. In 2022 a former employee sued the company alleging negligent use of PFAS chemicals in manufacturing, affecting employees and neighboring residents, and the state of Maryland sued in 2024. In 2023 limited amounts of PFOA were found in groundwater near Gore's Cherry Hill facility in Elkton, Maryland; Gore states it has never manufactured or processed PFOA, attributing trace levels to historically supplied raw materials, and has run a multi-site investigation with more than 439 samples from over 238 locations, bottled water, and over 146 point-of-entry treatment systems offered to affected homes.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 23
launches, deals, and filingsMitico International Sàrl and Mitico, Inc. announced completion of their first refinery carbon capture demonstration project with Bangchak Corporation PCL in Thailand.
Gore published an update on continuing work with the Maryland Department of the Environment and third-party technical experts to evaluate groundwater, soil and surface water conditions near its facilities.
W. L. Gore & Associates joined GDI's ongoing $15 million Series A1 alongside InnoEnergy, Impact NY, Helios Climate Ventures, SIA/NOM and other investors to begin megawatt-scale production of 100% silicon anodes in the US and EU.
$15M source ↗
Gore's website highlights a strategic acquisition described as strengthening its product development pipeline; the target is not named.
Launch of a next-generation screw-in enclosure vent positioned for performance and efficiency in harsh conditions.
Gore introduced High Speed Data Cables for ultralight solutions, described as up to 50% lighter than the industry standard (site banner cites up to 60% lighter with the same performance).
GOREWEAR announced it has closed after four decades; products can no longer be purchased on GOREWEAR.com and remain available through retail partners while stock lasts.
W. L. Gore & Associates and Lockheed Martin Ventures co-led an additional $11 million financing for South 8 Technologies to accelerate LiGas battery cell deployment for soldier power, unmanned aerial systems and space platforms.
$11M source ↗
W. L. Gore & Associates joined the Series B investment syndicate for Agitated Solutions, funding a pivotal Phase III trial for ASI-02 and next-generation cardiac imaging software.
W. L. Gore & Associates participated as an anchor investor alongside Pangaea Ventures, PureTerra Ventures and Ecolab Inc. in Membrion's $20 million Series B1 for industrial wastewater treatment.
$20M source ↗
Presentation on a Gore investigational glaucoma device covering design, materials and early clinical results on sub-conjunctival scarring at the American Glaucoma Society 2025 Annual Meeting.
Mitico announced $4.3 million in seed funding to commercialize granulated metal carbonate carbon capture technology; the announcement was published by Gore Ventures.
$4.3M source ↗
Mexico's Federal Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risks authorized a clinical trial to assess the GORE synthetic cornea device in patients with loss of corneal clarity.
The state of Maryland filed suit against the company in connection with PFAS allegations.
Limited amounts of PFOA were discovered in groundwater near Gore's Cherry Hill facility in Elkton, Maryland, prompting a multi-site investigation with the Maryland Department of the Environment across Cherry Hill, Fair Hill, Appleton and Elk Mills.
A former employee sued the company alleging it negligently used harmful PFAS chemicals in its manufacturing process, affecting employees and neighboring residents.
Bret Snyder, grandson of the founders via their daughter Elizabeth, replaced Jason Field; he is listed as Chairman of the Board, President and CEO.
Recognition for the invention of expanded PTFE (ePTFE).
The Society of Chemical Industry presented Bob Gore with the Perkin Medal for achievement in applied chemistry.
Terri Kelly, who joined Gore in 1983 as a mechanical engineer in the Fabrics Division, became president.
Charles Carroll, a long-term business leader in the Electronics and Fabrics Divisions, replaced Bob Gore as president.
The award honored Gore's Medical Products Division for polymers providing significant service to mankind.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Goregore.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Gore do?
- W. L. Gore & Associates is a privately held US materials manufacturer of fluoropolymer-based products, best known for GORE-TEX.
- Who are Gore's investors?
- Gore's investors include Slater Technology Fund.
- Where is Gore headquartered?
- Gore is headquartered in Newark, US.