Sirrus

Market position

Sirrus describes itself as a small startup with roughly 30 employees positioned as a supplier of novel reactive monomers and crosslinkers to established chemical and manufacturing companies, rather than as a producer of finished formulated products.

Ambient-temperature anionic polymerization of methylene malonate derivatives, with multiple reactive sites, that avoids UV light, external heat and high solvent loadings while retaining physical properties required in existing coatings and adhesives, backed by a portfolio of more than 30 global patents.

Technology

The patented technology centers on methylene malonate monomers and oligomeric crosslinkers, including multifunctional methylene malonates produced through transesterification of ester side groups with various diols. The monomers have multiple reactive sites and polymerize anionically at ambient temperatures, eliminating the need for UV curing, external heat or high solvent loadings, which the company links to lower cost and reduced environmental footprint. Intellectual property spans more than 30 global patents covering initiation, formulation and stabilization of the methylene malonates, process technologies and methods of application, and composition of matter for related homopolymers, copolymers and hybrid polymers. Technology brands include Chemilian and Forza. Application work includes waterborne polymer dispersions.

Go-to-market

Sirrus works through strategic partners that formulate and commercialize products built on its monomers, including collaboration with BASF on automotive coatings. It supports adoption with technical resources such as white papers, presentations, safety data sheets, testing and compliance documents, videos and a technical blog, and presents at industry events such as the Waterborne Symposium.

Researchers developing new polymer classes, formulators of coatings, paints, adhesives, sealants and encapsulants, and manufacturers in automotive, packaging, wood products, construction, medical and electronics sectors.

Geography

Operations are based in Loveland in the Greater Cincinnati area of Ohio, United States; the company's parent, Nippon Shokubai, is a global chemical company based in Japan.

History

The company was founded in 2009 as Bioformix, a Loveland, Ohio chemical startup. In December 2013 it named Jeff Uhrig chief executive officer and Kousay Said chief commercial officer, part of a strategic shift away from developing and marketing products internally toward partnering with companies in various industries. In April 2014 it renamed itself Sirrus, a reference to fast-moving cirrus clouds, chosen to reflect a mission of advancing manufacturing through chemistry and to avoid being grouped with biotechnology companies. Co-founder Adam Malofsky remained on the board and co-founder Bernard Malofsky served as chief technology officer. The company later became a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Shokubai. In January 2018 it relaunched its website and introduced a technical blog.