Los Alamos startup hires trio of science, business experts, continues to grow staff
May Ortega - Albuquerque Business First
What do Sandia National Laboratories, the New Mexico Consortium and European research firm Nanoco Technologies have in common? They all have former team members employed with UbiQD as of this week. The Los Alamos-based startup specializes in nanotechnology development with a focus on manufacturing low-hazard quantum dots and nanocomposites to give windows the ability to generate electricity.
The company has raised more than $1 million from investors since its founding in 2014. Most recently, it garnered $550,000 in March. UbiQD's whole market strategy may change now that it has Steve Reinhard, former Nanoco Technologies vice president of business development, as its own vice president of business development. Nanoco, a public company based in Manchester, England, also works on research, development and manufacture of quantum dots and semiconductor nanoparticles. The New Mexico Consortium, a nonprofit that supports research in the state, has also lost one of its employees to UbiQD. Its former safety and compliance management worker Liseth Garay, is now UbiQD's operations manager. UbiQD's third hire has a background in nanoparticles as well, but in a more hands-on way. Nicolai Archuleta, UbiQD's newest research and development scientist, was a nanoparticles intern at Sandia Labs before heading to Santiago, Chile, to carry on his research on the subject.
These new hires bring the startup's full-time employee count to nine, including a summer intern, and it is looking to bring the total number of employees up to 11 by the end of the year. CEO and founder Hunter McDaniel told Albuquerque Business First there are currently three open positions for additional research and development scientists.
McDaniel said the company's vision of enabling smart cities through things like electricity generating glass on skyscrapers was one reason, in his view, that the newest team members came on board. But there's more to it, he added.
"The new hires wanted to leverage their previous experience in a high-growth small business environment," he said in an email. "This is really just the beginning of our story, with a significant opportunity for career development."
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