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Innovakote
Techstars '21Kent City, US · Founded 2018 · 1 known investors
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Innovakote develops a proprietary recycling process that converts used powder coating waste into reusable powder for the coating supply chain, helping manufacturers and applicators reduce waste and carbon footprint.
Also known as Innovakote West Michigan
Founders & leadership
Innovakote was founded in 2018 by Dwayne Behrens.
Investors · 1
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · Not right? Tell us
Company profile
researched Sep 2026Innovakote is a Kent City, Michigan-based company built around a proprietary process for recycling powder coating waste. Its technology converts overspray, production overruns and baghouse fines collected from manufacturers and applicators into a stable recycled "chip" raw material that can be used either as an input by powder manufacturers or as a finished powder coating in select color families. The stated mission is to eliminate waste and reduce the carbon footprint of the powder coating supply chain by transforming used powder into fresh powder.
The operating model described on the company's site involves extracting waste powder onsite at a customer location, transporting it to Innovakote's facility, treating it, and returning customized material to the client. According to the company, the process sorts and color-separates incoming material and applies a gentle, low-energy mix-and-melt step that leaves resin, additives and chemistry unchanged, so the recycled material retains the performance characteristics of the original coating. Most thermoset powder coatings, including polyesters, TGIC and hybrids, are described as recyclable through the process.
Innovakote states that it began as the technology arm that developed early processes for converting overspray into usable raw material and agreed to purchase the intellectual property behind the mix-and-melt approach. It now describes itself as a legacy innovation brand that maintains the licensed technology and recycling framework, while manufacturing, recycling, R&D production, large-scale recycling operations, material intake programs and commercial customer programs are handled by the licensed manufacturer Coatings by PCD / Surplus Coatings.
Founding story
Co-founder and CEO Dwayne Behrens spent more than 30 years in the powder coating industry running operations and working with manufacturers and applicators, and built Surplus Coatings into one of North America's largest overspray recycling platforms. That experience surfaced the scale of annual overspray waste and the absence of a scalable solution, leading him to found Innovakote and develop a low-energy circular recycling process. Co-founder Brian Spicer served two deployments in Iraq as a Chemical Operations Specialist and spent eleven years in the powder coating industry before co-founding the company with the goal of removing two billion pounds of excess powder coating from the environment.
Business model
Innovakote holds and maintains the licensed recycling technology and circularity framework for powder coating waste. Commercial activity — overspray collection, expired inventory recycling, baghouse fines programs, customer pilots and recycled-content integration — is administered through Coatings by PCD / Surplus Coatings, the operating and manufacturing arm, which handles manufacturing, recycling and R&D production. Customers historically sent collected powder coating waste to Innovakote, which cleaned, sorted and reformulated it into recycled content for new powder coating returned to the customer.
Recycled powder coating material is supplied to manufacturers and applicators; the company positions recycled-content powder as costing materially less than virgin product, with customers also avoiding landfill disposal costs.
Traction
During the NextCycle Michigan program the team supplied recycled powder coating to all the large furniture manufacturers in Michigan and was described as ready to move out of the pilot phase into additional industries such as automotive. Its Kent City facility was reported to turn thousands of pounds of collected powder coating waste into recycled product daily.
Latest developments
The company's site now describes Innovakote as the underlying innovation brand and historical technology platform that maintains the licensed technology and recycling framework, with all manufacturing, recycling, R&D production, large-scale recycling operations, intake programs and commercial customer programs handled by licensed manufacturer Coatings by PCD / Surplus Coatings.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Positions itself as a sustainability company supplying powder coating, addressing what the founders describe as roughly two billion pounds of powder coating overspray sent to landfills globally each year, with about 52 percent of powder lost to waste during manufacturing and application. It was profiled as a growing startup with a novel process for recycling industrial powder coating material.
Co-founder Brian Spicer described Innovakote as the first company in North America to take recycling processes used elsewhere and turn them into a marketable solution that U.S. manufacturers will buy. The company emphasizes that recycled material retains the performance of virgin powder and that recycled-content powder can cut material costs roughly in half relative to new product, while supporting landfill diversion and Scope 3 carbon-reduction goals.
Technology
A low-energy, circular recycling process consisting of sorting and color separation, a gentle mix-and-melt step, conversion into a recycled "chip" raw material, and use of that chip as a raw material or finished powder coating. The company states the process does not degrade quality because resin, additives and chemistry remain unchanged, and that it handles overspray, overruns, off-spec powder and baghouse fines from most thermoset chemistries such as polyesters, TGIC and hybrids.
Go-to-market
Direct engagement with manufacturers and applicators that generate overspray, with material intake, commercial programs and service inquiries routed to Surplus Coatings / Coatings by PCD. Participation in the NextCycle Michigan accelerator program supported pitching, storytelling and market exposure.
Powder coating manufacturers and applicators, and industrial manufacturers that powder coat parts — including office and residential furniture makers in Michigan, with stated expansion intent toward the automotive industry.
Geography
Headquartered and operating from a warehouse facility at 2825 17 Mile Rd, Unit B, Kent City, Michigan, serving West Michigan manufacturers and the broader U.S. powder coating market.
History
Innovakote began as the technology arm that developed early processes for converting powder coating overspray into usable raw material and agreed to purchase the intellectual property behind its mix-and-melt approach. By 2022 it was operating a Kent City, Michigan warehouse processing thousands of pounds of collected powder coating waste daily and participating in the NextCycle Michigan program, where it supplied recycled powder coating to large Michigan furniture manufacturers and won the May 2022 WasteExpo Pitch Slam. It subsequently became a legacy innovation brand maintaining the licensed technology, with the full circular economy system operated by Coatings by PCD / Surplus Coatings.
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 · 4
launches, deals, and filingsThe company states it agreed to purchase the intellectual property behind the gentle mix-and-melt approach that transforms overspray and off-spec powder into specification-ready recycled material.
Innovakote states that it maintains the licensed recycling technology and framework while all manufacturing, recycling, R&D production, large-scale recycling operations and commercial programs are handled by licensed manufacturer Coatings by PCD / Surplus Coatings.
Innovakote won the WasteExpo Pitch Slam, a pitch competition featuring teams from NextCycle Michigan and NextCycle Colorado focused on circular economy projects.
Innovakote West Michigan took part in the NextCycle Michigan program (listed as alumni), during which it supplied recycled powder coating to large Michigan furniture manufacturers and worked on pitching and market exposure.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Innovakoteinnovakote.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Innovakote do?
- Michigan company whose technology recycles powder coating overspray into specification-ready raw material for new powder coatings.
- Who founded Innovakote?
- Innovakote was founded by Dwayne Behrens in 2018.
- Who are Innovakote's investors?
- Innovakote's investors include Techstars.
- Where is Innovakote headquartered?
- Innovakote is headquartered in Kent City, US.