Impact investing firm Advantage Capital announced on July 18 that it has made a $3.35-million investment in Vibrant Corp., a company specializing in non-destructive testing (NDT) technology.
“Vibrant is exactly the type of growth-ready business we are looking to invest in," Gabe Rosen, Vice President of Advantage Capital, said in a release by the company. "It’s innovative, a leader in its industry and we are excited to see how this financing will help the company continue its expansion.”
The funding round was led by Advantage, with participation from pre-existing Vibrant shareholders, the release stated. The investment will be used to expand Vibrant's workforce and increase production capacity, the company explained. The financing was made in connection with the Federal New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) Program, which aims to attract investment in low-income communities, the release added.
“We are pleased to have received this funding at this critical moment in our growth trajectory,” said Lem Hunter, Chief Executive Officer of Vibrant. “With this financing, we will be able to build out our workforce with exceptional talent, continue to scale production, and importantly, stay here in the great state of New Mexico.”
Vibrant achieved collaborated with Collins Aerospace in 2021 to apply Process Compensated Resonance Testing (PCRT) technology, replacing an environmentally harmful and labor-intensive non-destructive testing (NDT) process on commercial aircraft wheels for most Boeing and Airbus aircraft, according to the release. As a result of this endeavor, the company plans to utilize the new investment to build and deploy more NDT testing machines for commercial aircraft wheels, particularly focusing on advanced PCRT systems to support its service business in the aerospace, power generation, and automotive markets, the company stated.
According to the release, Vibrant is a leader in NDT technology, founded in Albuquerque in 2006. The company specializes in PCRT, a method of testing object integrity using vibration, which was developed at Los Alamos Laboratory.