LiQuifix Inc. has disclosed more than $1.5 million in funding this year from Connecticut Innovations Inc., LaunchCapital and other investors, with the Stamford-based company selling non-toxic lubricants and degreasers.
Rocky Hill-based Connecticut Innovations made its $500,000 investment through the Connecticut Clean Tech Fund focused on companies in the energy and environmental industries, with LiQuifix among some 20 Fairfield County companies in Connecticut Innovations”™ current portfolio of more than 45 businesses.
LiQuifix”™s product line includes spray lubricants and wipes and cleansers, with early customers including Ford Motor Co., the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the U.S. military ”“ its product line includes a 55-gallon drum of the product.
The original application for LiQuifix”™s formula was on beverage trucks in which aluminum truck bodies are used instead of steel truck bodies; and side-loading trucks that use nylon handles and rubber wheels mounted in aluminum tracks. It says its product dramatically reduced warranty claims for corrosion damage.
In a May Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the company stated it has less than $1 million in annual revenue at present; since then, however, LiQuifix has been ramping up efforts to reach consumers through hardware stores and recreational sports outlets.
If the topic of green oils and lubricants sounds vaguely familiar, it stands to reason ”“ in 2007 a Greenwich-based company called Green Rhino L.L.C. charged to market with a green household lubricant, like LiQuifix likening the performance of its product to WD-40.
And until last year Stamford was the home of Green Earth Technologies, which sells household lubricants and engine oil derived from beef tallow. That company has since moved its headquarters to White Plains, N.Y., and in mid-May it quietly parted ways with its CEO Jeff Marshall, without immediately naming a replacement, and with Marshall remaining a company director. In the first quarter, Green Earth Technologies quadrupled sales from a year ago to $2.6 million, while still reporting a $4 million loss.
Other mass-market lubricants include Liquid Wrench sold by North Carolina-based Radiator Specialty Co., BioBlend made in Joliet, Ill., and LubriMagic from Plews & Edelmann, an Illinois company that was acquired last month by a California private equity investor even as it introduced a new UltraLube lubricant designed for use on food machinery.
For San Diego-based WD-40 Co.”™s second fiscal quarter ending Feb. 28, U.S. sales of its flagship product and other home maintenance products dropped 10 percent, which WD-40 Co. attributed to lost distribution, a lower level of replenishment orders and the timing of promotional activities.
Even as LiQuifix hopes to cut into some of that market share, a pair of Danbury companies have spent the past several months re-establishing themselves as independent brands that are giants in household and automotive consumer products industry. Clorox spun out major automotive brands Armor All and STP to form Armored AutoGroup; while Honeywell divested its own automotive consumer products group to a New Zealand investor, including Autolite spark plugs, Fram oil filters and Prestone antifreeze.
