OUR STORY

In the mid 1990's Tom Rosenmayer and Brian O'Connell worked side by side within the Electronic Products Division of W.L. Gore & Associates, Tom as a technology leader and Brian as a product specialist. As they worked on many programs together during their overlapping years at Gore, a friendship was formed that remains to this day.

One of the projects was the introduction of thin film dielectrics for use in semiconductor wafer manufacturing. While this particular innovation did not gain commercial success, it did plant an entrepreneurial seed in each of them.

In subsequent years their career paths diverged and locations changed but their friendship lived on, irrespective of the fact that Tom was a die hard Green Bay Packers supporter and Brian a lifelong Chicago Bears fan.

In 2019 Tom founded SILPARA and asked Brian to join him as his partner to commercialize the thin film technology they worked on in the 1990's, with a twist. SILPARA was founded from the idea that the need to reduce rolling resistance in vehicle tires could be met with technology born in the semiconductor industry.

Thus, SILPARA was founded with the intention of applying thin film nanotechnology to tire tread rubber compounds.

Our mission at SILPARA is to provide sustainable nanomaterials that improve tire performance and reduce transportation costs and emissions. This is the SILPARA story.

Tom Rosenmayer, Founder & CTO

Tom has over 25 years of experience in the business and technology development of specialty materials at IBM, W. L. Gore & Associates, and Lehigh Technologies.

Tom joined Lehigh as a late stage start-up, helping grow revenue over 3x, and participated in a successful exit via acquisition by Michelin in 2017.

At Lehigh, his teams developed

Tom has over 25 years of experience in the business and technology development of specialty materials at IBM, W. L. Gore & Associates, and Lehigh Technologies.

Tom joined Lehigh as a late stage start-up, helping grow revenue over 3x, and participated in a successful exit via acquisition by Michelin in 2017.

At Lehigh, his teams developed and commercialized multiple award-winning new products (all sustainable materials) to the very same group of companies targeted by SILPARA.

In addition to a background of innovation, as evidenced by his new business development experience and 11 US patents, he is very experienced in both customer engagement and board/investor level relations.

At SILPARA he is responsible for the definition of the technology and providing expert analysis for the customer and investor community.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosenmayer/

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Brian O'Connell, CCO

Tom Rosenmayer, Founder & CTO

Brian has over 25 years of experience as a senior business executive and brings an achievement record providing leadership across multiple business functions and global regions for Fortune 500 companies.

Brian has achieved substantial success with business to business sales, marketing and channel management at organizational “C” levels a

Brian has achieved substantial success with business to business sales, marketing and channel management at organizational “C” levels and has grown and managed nine figure revenue budgets and eight figure expense budgets.

He has an extensive working knowledge of general and product management, strategic planning and organizational design.

He has spend the past 7 years of his career focused on corporate acquisition, post-merger synergy, international regulatory filings, and intellectual property maintenance.

At SILPARA, he is responsible for all commercial activities, capital management, fundraising and investor relations.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-o-connell-52216413/

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Advisors

National Science Foundation

SILPARA is fully invested in becoming a leader in the nanomaterials space and those application areas where our materials are used.

Our advisory committee consists of leaders throughout industry and academia and serve as a critical component in our research, product development and commercial effort. Members include:

Kedar Murthy, Indepe

SILPARA is fully invested in becoming a leader in the nanomaterials space and those application areas where our materials are used.

Our advisory committee consists of leaders throughout industry and academia and serve as a critical component in our research, product development and commercial effort. Members include:

Kedar Murthy, Independent Industry Advisor, https://www.linkedin.com/in/kedarmurthy/

Howard Colvin, PhD, Ex-Goodyear & Cooper Tire R&D, https://www.linkedin.com/in/howard-colvin-b511686/

Rice University, Biswal Research Group - Colloid Characterization, https://www.ruf.rice.edu/~biswalab/Biswal_Research_Group/Welcome.html

Georgia Institute of Technology - Microanalysis Center -

Nanocomposite Characterization, https://mcf.gatech.edu/home/

Ace Products & Consulting - Rubber Compounding & Test, https://www.aceprodcon.com/

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National Science Foundation

SILPARA is proud to be a part of the National Science Foundation America’s Seed Fund.

America’s Seed Fund is a program within the National Science Foundation and housed within the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships within the Directorate of Engineering.

The NSF is a federal agency that supports fundamental research and edu

SILPARA is proud to be a part of the National Science Foundation America’s Seed Fund.

The NSF is a federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering, currently with an $8.1 billion budget.

Through the merit review process, NSF funds the most innovative ideas in science and technology.

Notable NSF-supported advances include Doppler radar, the Internet, web browsers, bar codes, magnetic resonance imaging, inkjet printers, computer-aided design systems, tissue engineering, and other technology-based innovations that spur economic activity and improve the quality of life for all Americans.

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Industry

National Science Foundation

Industry

SILPARA has received letters of endorsement from tire industry leaders, representing 33% of the tire market.

In addition, SILPARA has received similar support from an industry leading international silica/materials company and multiple seed stage venture funds, focused on the sustainable transportation and energy markets.

During the earl

SILPARA has received letters of endorsement from tire industry leaders, representing 33% of the tire market.

During the early stages of market development, SILPARA conducted an independent market survey "deep-dive" to define industry pain points and focus efforts for the application of SILPARA technology.

Technical representatives from 6 out of the top ten global tire companies agreed that the polymer filler interaction in TBR tread is the leading barrier to achieving better rolling resistance.

These survey respondents companies represent 49% of the global tire manufacturing market.

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