The first investment by Cowboy Technology Angels, LLC (CTA) will provide a huge boost to Associated Material Processing (AMP), a company that uses a technology to remove arsenic from water. The technology was created by Oklahoma State University chemistry professor Allen Apblett, Ph.D. In addition to its application to remediate contaminated municipal water supplies, the technology has many other industrial and commercial uses such as semiconductor manufacturing and industrial waste water processes.
“This is an important step for a promising technology created at Oklahoma State University, as well as Cowboy Technology Angels,” said OSU President Burns Hargis. “We appreciate the alumni who are demonstrating their belief in life-changing OSU research with their financial investment.”
Cowboy Technology Angels is a new investment fund that gets an early look at business ventures emanating from research performed at Oklahoma State University. The OSU-centric angel fund committed $285,000 to AMP and will be joined with investments by i2E, a government-supported nonprofit fund, and its affiliated network of individual investors. Total funds raised for the launch of AMP was more than $1 million.
“We’re really excited about our first investment into this OSU start-up business,” said Jim Troxel, president of CTA. “We aggregated the resources of nine OSU alums and performed due diligence resulting in our decision to aggressively support this company.”
Cowboy Technology Angels, LLC, is comprised primarily of alumni of Oklahoma State University who desire to see the wealth of research, talent and innovation that the university has developed applied to help grow investor-ready entrepreneurs and their young companies address the state’s economic needs. Cowboy Technology Angels is managed by Troxel, OSU ’68. Membership in the angel fund is open to alumni and other friends of the university.
Associated Material Processing (AMP) was founded by Cowboy Technologies, LLC (CT), itself a university owned for profit entity which developed the business plan, launched and formed AMP. CT also helped launch the angel fund. AMP manufactures a disruptive arsenic capture material invented by Dr. Apblett and marks Cowboy Technologies’ first successful business launch and was recognized by The Journal Record as a finalist for the 2012 Innovator of the Year.
For more information about Cowboy Technology Angels contact Jim Troxel, jtroxel@wbtangels.com, or click on: www.cowboytechnologyangels.com. For more information OSU’s Cowboy Technologies contact Steve Wood, steve.wood@okstate.edu, or click on: www.cowboytechllc.com. To learn more about Associated Material Processing, go to: www.ampchem.com.