From the Startup Battlefield stage to the International Space Station: geCKo Materials built a sticky product

For a successful deep tech startup, the laboratory breakthrough is only the first step. To spin out an innovative technology into a scalable business, a founder has to navigate a complicated legal process. 

This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen speaks with Capella Kerst, founder and CEO of geCKo Materials and the 2024 TechCrunch Startup Battlefield runner up. Kerst was a Stanford PhD student, working on bio-inspired adhesives — materials modeled after the microscopic hairs that allow geckos to stick to walls. She wasn’t looking to be a founder but when she had a major breakthrough that made it possible to make the material rapidly and reliably, she knew it was a viable product. 

But translating a lab discovery into a startup is less about the “eureka” moment and more about everything that comes after.

“I got up the courage to really address my advisor in a very like we need to have a serious conversation about me spinning out this company and starting it,” Capella said. And that conversation was the beginning of a long process of building geCKo materials. 

Here is a roadmap for founders spinning a product out of academia. 

• Reach out to prior contributors. Connect with all the people who’s work lead up to the big breakthrough. Kerst offered these contributors the options to join the company, become advisors, or receive compensation.
• Ensure you reach the requirements for the licensing process. Kerst started conversations with Stanford’s office of Technology licensing early and she learned to spin it out, she’d need to complete her PhD. These early conversations also helped her prepare for the process to come. 
• Form the company and lawyer up. In this case, Stanford provided a list of lawyers Kerst had to use. “I spent time interviewing lawyers and finding out about case studies, what other people got, what did you push, what didn’t work, what got pushed back on. And so I just learned a ton, picked my lawyer, and then we went at Stanford.” said Kerst, “I was like, I want a good deal, because I want this to be a big company, and I think it’ll benefit everybody.”
• Transition fully into the founder role. Once the licensing agreement is finalized, it’s time to shift from PhD to CEO. 

Five years later, geCKo Materials is continuing to scale and develop new ways to apply its adhesive technology which is being tested in applications ranging from robotics and manufacturing to automotive and even space. The company’s material is already in use on the International Space Station, and Kerst says the long-term vision includes replacing traditional attachment methods like Velcro or suction systems.

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Isabelle Johannessen is our host. Build Mode is produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience Development is led by Morgan Little. And a special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.