In this episode of The WTiN Podcast, we talk to Cam Chidiac, founder of the clean tech firm Drywired.

Drywired is an award-winning, Los Angeles-based business that distributes nanotechnologies globally. The company’s mission is to harness nanotechnology as a catalyst for change with its eco-friendly protective thin-film coatings that can make buildings more energy efficient, surfaces cleaner, lessen e-waste and reduce city air pollution.

In this podcast, Chidiac starts off by explaining more about how the brand came about. Founded in 2012, it was launched at CES in January 2013 as a start-up offering a single protective nanocoating solution for mobile electronics. The team works by connecting with researchers and scientists to bring research and patents to commercialisation, and its most recent product is called Dryfiber. Dryfiber provides a fluorine-free durable water and oil repellent textile finish, which is completely water-bourne and can be applied through traditional finishing processes. 

Chidiac talks about the chemistry involved to achieve oil repellency and he explains more about the issue surrounding toxic chemicals such as PFCs. Elsewhere, he talks about the sea of opportunity for innovation out there. Apparently, 98% of research and patents never reach the market, and so people should really seek these out as a lot of the industry’s problems have already been solved.