Listen to this articleSC Launch Inc. has invested $250,000 in VBASE Oil Co., a Pendleton-based startup that manufactures a new class of sustainable, high-performance base oils that are biobased, biodegradable, non-toxic and non-bioaccumulating, according to a news release.SC Launch Inc. is South Carolina Research Authority’s investment affiliate.VBASE Oil Co. b...
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SC Launch Inc. has invested $250,000 in VBASE Oil Co., a Pendleton-based startup that manufactures a new class of sustainable, high-performance base oils that are biobased, biodegradable, non-toxic and non-bioaccumulating, according to a news release.
SC Launch Inc. is South Carolina Research Authority’s investment affiliate.
VBASE Oil Co. became an SCRA member company in 2024 and an SC Launch Inc. portfolio company with this investment.
“VBASE began from the need to produce more environmentally acceptable and sustainable lubricating solutions,” SCRA Senior Investment Manager Rob Moser said in the news release. “They perfected their products while working as a team of scientists and engineers at a South Carolina-based advanced materials company, partly with DOE and USDA funding. After developing and patenting their biodegradable solution, Secondary Polyol Ester technology, they formed VBASE Oil Co. to bring the technology to market.”
With patented Secondary Polyol Ester technology, VBASE base oils help lubricant manufacturers make high-performance, environmentally friendly lubricants, the release stated.
“As soon as we became an SCRA member company last year, we began reaping the benefits of this partnership,” VBASE Oil Co. CEO and founder Jeffrey DiMaio said in the release. “This investment will accelerate our growth, enhance our global regulatory certifications, optimize operations and broaden product applications to serve a growing customer base. With partners like SCRA and SC Launch Inc., we are on track to be the most innovative and sustainable base oil brand.”
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SC Launch Inc. is an independent, nonprofit corporation that provides convertible loans and investment funding to qualifying SCRA member companies. The returns on this funding provide additional coaching grants and investments to next-generation technology startups.
“Jeff and his team have spent the time needed to perfect their products,” SC Launch Inc. Executive Director Matt Bell said in the release. They’ve worked for years to create biobased and biodegradable oils that are both high-performing and designed to help lubricant manufacturers improve and quantify the sustainability of their products. Being able to build high-performance and sustainable lubricants with VBASE oils helps these manufacturers grow their customer base, creating a reciprocal effect and more jobs.”
South Carolina Research Authority SCRA was chartered by the state in 1983 to fuel the state’s innovation economy through the impact of its comprehensive services to technology-based startups, academia and industry.
According to its website, SCRA has awarded more than $5 million in grants and investments to grow tech-based startups and academic-based research and development projects, to commercialize technology and to assist tech-based startups moving operations into the state.