Orlando, Fla. (March 1, 2021) – While many small businesses struggle to find funding, sometimes it just comes in the most peculiar ways.
Just ask Christina Drake, owner and founder of Kismet Technologies, which is developing a next-generation residual surface disinfectant spray using nanotechnology.
The company recently received a $250,000 investment from North Carolina businessman and pastor Lawrence Yoo all because she interviewed him as part of a National Science Foundation grant requirement.
“We’re required to interview customers who might purchase our product to find out how we can better serve the marketplace,” Drake says. “Lawrence is a friend who owns many businesses, such as a day care, a restaurant and a dental clinic, who could evaluate buying and using our product in a wide range of applications.”
When launched, Kismet’s product could replace ordinary spray cleansers which are often misused. Those products need from 4 to 10 minutes on a surface to fully kill all germs, but users generally wipe the product off within seconds of spraying.
NanoRAD, which stands for “Nanobased Rapid All-day Disinfectant,” works immediately because of the use of nanoparticles. Plus, the product stays on the surface and kills any further germs for up to a day.
When Yoo found out about what Drake was working on after the interview, he immediately asked to become an investor.
“As a pastor, I believe in dignity-based businesses, those that can serve a higher purpose for our world,” Yoo says. “Yes, Christina’s product will keep my customers and parishioners safe, but we can also use this to greatly reduce the spread of all diseases – not just COVID-19 – in many parts of the world.”
Drake originally refused Yoo’s investment. She has known the Yoo since she was 14 years old. In fact, he officiated Drake’s wedding.
“I truly didn’t want to affect the relationship, but after several months, he showed me that it was not being offered because of friendship, but because he believed in the business,” Drake says. “He’s now become an integral part of the business, providing valuable advice taken from his personal experience as an entrepreneur.”
Finding funding is an issue that plagues many small businesses as they work to come to market. Often friends and family are one of the first places they turn for investment.
“Very early in a company’s growth, it’s critical to utilize every resource possible to find the funding needed to grow,” says Carol Ann Logue, director, Programs & Operations, Innovation Districts & Incubation Program. “The key for that sort of funding is to be upfront on expectations and treat it like it was in investment from any institutional investors.”
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For more information, please contact:
Kismet Technologies: Christina Drake, owner, cdrake@kismettechnologies.com
UCF Business Incubation Program: Carol Ann Dykes Logue, 407-635-9882, carolann.dykeslogue@ucf.edu or Alan Byrd, Alan Byrd & Associates, 407-415-8470, Alan@ByrdConnections.com
About Kismet Technologies.: Kismet Technologies is a woman owned, R&D technology development company that was founded with a vision to be a leader in delivering innovative material technologies that help people achieve healthier, safer lives worldwide with minimal impact to the planet. Kismet Technologies is focused on mitigating pathogen spread, through novel viral disinfection, with the use of safe nanotechnology innovations. For more information, please visit kismet-technologies.com
About the UCF Business Incubation Program: The University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program is a community resource that provides early-stage companies with the tools, training and infrastructure to become financially stable, high growth/impact enterprises. Since 1999, this award-winning program has provided vital business development resources resulting in over 300 local startup companies reaching their potential faster and graduating into the community where they continue to grow and positively impact the local economy.
With seven facilities throughout the region, the UCF Business Incubation Program is an economic development partnership between the University of Central Florida, the Corridor, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia Counties, and the cities of Kissimmee, Orlando and Winter Springs. For the 2017/2018 fiscal years, the activities of these participating firms have helped to sustain more than 6,725 local jobs and have had a cumulative impact of over $725 million on regional GDP and over $1.3 billion on regional sales. During the same period, the program has returned more than $12.00 in state and local taxes for every $1.00 invested in the program. In addition, for every $1.00 of public investment the firms also produced $118 of additional regional GDP and $226 of regional sales. For more information, visit www.incubator.ucf.edu.
