Atlantic Motor Labs, a Canada-based drill motor engineering company, has raised C$250,000 ($200,000) from the local province of Nova Scotia.
Innovacorp is a venture capital fund created by the province of Nova Scotia to invest in early-stage companies.
Previously, Atlantic Motor Labs has raised C$350,000 from private and public investors.
Braden Murphy, Atlantic Motor Labs founder and president, who started the company in 2013 as a spinoff from his award-winning undergrad and thesis work at Dalhousie University said: “Today’s standard drill motors frequently break down due to degradation of the rubber seals, and there is growing concern as exploration and production pushes towards more challenging geological formations with deeper, more complex wells. Our motor is designed without rubber seals and will extend the period between motor failures and servicing.”
Atlantic Motor Labs plans to use the funds to demonstrate and commercialise its down-hole motor technology that allows drilling companies to take on projects that would prove too challenging for traditional motor technology.
Michael Dennis, investment manager at Innovacorp, said: “The innovative hybrid piston-turbine motor design from Atlantic Motor Labs has potential in several different markets, with the global market for drill motors alone estimated at $1.5bn.”
