Inorganic Ventures acquires PURE Analytical Laboratories
IV Labs Inc, the parent company of Inorganic Ventures, has acquired PURE Analytical Laboratories in a move to produce materials with higher purities than currently available and to create new, high-purity materials for emerging applications from renewable energy to consumer safety.
PURE, of Feasterville, Pennsylvania, is one of the few companies that produces ultra-high purity formulations of most of the metals on the periodic table. Inorganic Ventures manufactures Certified Reference Materials (CRMs), which are used to calibrate the laboratory equipment chemists use to test products. “We are developing products and services beyond our traditional CRM market, that are based on our expertise in precision chemistry,” said Christopher Gaines, CEO of IV Labs and Inorganic Ventures.
The combined expertise and resources will bolster IV Labs’ research and development program focused on developing new ultra-high purity products for emerging technologies and for reducing processing requirements for a wide range of existing markets, including electronics, transportation, pharmaceutical and food and beverage.
The acquisition will also ensure that IV Labs’ spinoff venture, MERGE Chemistry, has a reliable, domestic source of precious metals and rare earth elements that play a critical role in the supply chain of current and next generation battery technologies.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed; both firms are privately held.
Effective today, PURE will continue to operate from its existing headquarters in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, and continue to serve its customers worldwide as a subsidiary of IV Labs, of Christiansburg, Virginia.
All 100+ employees of both Inorganic Ventures and PURE Analytical Laboratories will be retained at their current locations.
Benefits of the transaction include:
• Deeper technical expertise.
• Seamless customer services.
• Development of next-generation materials for emerging technologies.
• Ability to produce new, previously unseen, purity levels on starter products.
• Improved instrumentation capabilities and lower detection limits, thanks to cleaner CRMs.
Gaines will lead the combined company. Erik Miller, founder and CEO of PURE, will become chief strategy officer of the expanded IV Labs family of companies and retain part ownership of PURE.
“We are very excited to welcome the PURE team to the family and look forward to working together to support emerging technologies and the growing critical needs for high-purity materials,” Gaines explained. “Erik’s team are experts in high-purity materials: both sourcing and cleaning them. It’s a huge niche expertise.”
Miller is looking forward to working more closely with IV Labs. “It’s a team I trust, with a shared vision and similar corporate culture,” he said. “Now, we are in the position of holding proprietary technology in a sector that grows more critical as material needs grow more precise. Our joining IV positions us to continue to improve our products as industry needs change and to pursue some big opportunities in emerging technologies. There has never been a time like this.”
IV recruited to Virginia from New Jersey
The acquisition reflects a success for Virginia’s economic development efforts. When IV had outgrown its New Jersey space in 2008, a Virginia business development team reached out to the firm to consider relocating to the Commonwealth. “I’d never been recruited by anybody ever in my life,” reflected IV Labs Founder and then CEO Paul Gaines. “We all fell in love with Virginia, with the people, with the area, and the quality of living,” he added.
The family-owned business eventually selected a site in Montgomery County and opened a $3 million headquarters in 2009, moving six employees to Virginia. Today, IV has more than 100 employees.
About IV Labs
IV Labs, founded in Brick, New Jersey by Dr. Paul Gaines in 1989, is the parent company of Inorganic Ventures and MERGE Chemistry. IV Labs purchased Inorganic Ventures in 2002 and moved to Virginia’s New River Valley in 2009. Inorganic Ventures is a leader in education, training, and supplying certified reference materials. In 2022, IV Labs formed subsidiary MERGE Chemistry to supply additives and stabilizers that address critical challenges in the battery market.
• For more information on Inorganic Ventures: www.inorganicventures.com
• For more information on MERGE Chemistry: www.mergechem.com
