If you're sitting on a cushioned surface, chances are you're sitting on foam. Indratech wants to change that, and the Troy-based business is off to a good start.
The 10-year-old firm makes the Indura Performance Fiber. The patented fiber padding is marketed as "green, non-toxic, recycled and perfect for use in any bedding and furniture application."
"Anything you can sit or sleep on," says Surendra Khambete, president of
Indratech.
The company currently employs about 100 people, including 10 at its headquarters. It has hired two people in Troy (a R&D engineer and an accountant) over the last year to help it keep up with its growth. Revenue has spiked by 15 percent over the last year. The company sees its product as the replacement for foam.
"The good thing about foam is it's really tough," Khambete says. "If you sit on it, it will come right back up when you get up. The bad thing about foam is it's really toxic to produce."
Indratech boasts that Indura Performance Fiber has all of the attributes of foam but without any of the environmental costs.
"We are trying to get our foothold in the crib market, the mattress market, the automotive market," Khambete says.
It is also working with appliance makers to provide Indura Performance Fiber as an insulating material.
"We can make it quieter and warmer," Khambete says.
Source: Surendra Khambete, president of Indratech
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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