Advonex: Sustainable Innovations for a Better Tomorrow
The hope for a sustainable environment is high. Several industries are making a shift towards utilizing renewable resources to protect the environment. As non-renewable resources become more expensive to exploit, it is essential to find cost-efficient alternatives. Innovative technologies are playing a massive part in bringing about this change. Playing a major part in this change is Advonex International Corporation – an award-winning company in the bio-based chemical with ingredients that exceeds the performance characteristics of their petroleum-based counterparts. Advonex develops and sells sustainable ingredients for lubricants, cosmetics, personal care products and other markets.
Piloting the plan to meet the market demands for renewable hydrocarbons is Chad Joshi. He serves as the CEO and is a seasoned executive specializing in building technology companies through collaboration and strategic partnerships.
The Science & Business
Advonex International Corp. converts plant-based oils into high-value ingredients for the multi-billion-dollar personal care, automotive, and industrial markets. Its ingredients are better and more sustainable than traditional petroleum-derived or mineral-based chemicals.
Chad states that Advonex’s patented technology uses electrochemistry to form long-chain hydrocarbons from plant-based oils, followed by hydro-finishing and distillation processes to refine and separate into finished products. The company has been producing ingredients for customer sampling, resulting in significant partnerships in using its ingredients in personal care formulations, automotive lubricants, and industrial products.
Gaining Competitive Edge with Range of Splendid Products
In its relentless pursuit to put forward top-notch services, Advonex offers best-in-class custom-made ingredients that customers use to improve the performance of their products. The personal care space offers Entrada-DF, a renewable replacement for silicone oils widely used in cosmetics and personal care products such as hair spray, sunscreen, and antiperspirant deodorant, shampoo, and mascara. The EU is phasing out these oils as they are hormone disruptors. As a result, the entire industry is seeking safer alternatives.
Chad asserts that Advonex offers plant-based alternatives to baby oil, petroleum jelly, and waxes, widely used in color cosmetics. These offerings enable brand companies to reduce their climate risk, make their supply chain green, and meet consumer demand for safer personal care products.
In the lubricant sector, Advonex has worked with Valvoline to develop automotive lubricants that have improved lubricity and lower friction at high temperatures. This combination of features can improve engine efficiency and reduce wear. Imagine improving your fuel economy just by changing your oil!
In electric vehicles, Chad expresses Advonex’s fluids have the electrical and thermal properties to meet their needs for battery cooling systems and lubrication. A single fluid can meet multiple needs on-board the vehicles.
Advonex’s ingredients deliver performance equal to or better than their petroleum counterpart and do so cost-effectively. Once the company is at commercial-scale production, it expects its ingredients to be the preferred choice for many industries.
Value-Driven Culture to Develop Sustainable Alternatives
Chad expresses that the essence of the Advonex brand is a source of pride and outlines its culture, beliefs, and promise to its customers, vendors, and fellow employees. Advonex International focuses on replacing petroleum and mineral-based ingredients with sustainable alternatives that deliver superior performance for its customers.
The company believes in challenging & impactful work to deliver real market value to its business customers. It is committed to helping its customers build better products while reducing their dependence on petroleum. It recruits employees, consultants, suppliers who share its passion for creating a cleaner and greener planet for generations to come.
Facing Unprecedented Times
Chad expresses that the pandemic had a negative impact on the entire economy. Advonex underwent a dramatic cutback in its operations during the lockdowns until vaccines began to be widely available. He has been fortunate that Advonex has come through it, thanks to the support of its community and government. Many of its employees have returned and are looking to build back quickly to re-engage with its customers. While the pandemic slowed down product development with its customers, that work continuously increases demand for its products.
The lubricant industry has seen a similar slow down as the main consumers of lubricants. The automotive and the industrial sectors had to cut their production due to the dip in demand. New projects were delayed, and automotive aftermarket, which depended on the people’s ability to move around, was equally impacted, says Chad.
The Post-Pandemic Cosmetic Industry
Talking about the possible changes, Chad states that cosmetics are part of a broader personal care industry that, due to consumer pressure, is aiming to eliminate harmful ingredients from its products – including petroleum-based ingredients. Even during the pandemic, people still needed to shower, shave and groom because these activities make them feel better about themselves.
Consumers increasingly are equating petroleum-based products as being bad for the environment and their health. Until Entrada®, there has been no viable naturally sourced paraffin wax or white oils for cosmetics use. Entrada® ingredients enable cosmetics and personal care brands to develop eco-friendly, vegan, and sustainable products.
Advonex approaches to the market has always been to partner with companies throughout the value chain from raw materials to consumer products on the shelf. In 2016, the company partnered with Minnesota Soybean Processors to secure the feedstock supply that it can use to make Entrada ingredients.
In 2018, Advonex signed a raw materials agreement with Valvoline for commercial deliveries of its Entrada-BASE for automotive lubricants. Earlier in 2021, the company also signed a product development and supply agreement with Lubrizol to provide ingredients into the skin and hair care sectors. These partnerships have enabled Advonex to attract the venture capital community’s attention. It is now negotiating the investment needed to scale its production to meet this ever-growing demand.
Helping Hand to the Community
Advonex is located in southeastern Ontario – a region that has not seen the strong economic growth that larger communities like Toronto and Ottawa have, says Chad. Advonex’s biggest contribution is the development of jobs in a community that has been hard hit by the departure of many major manufacturing companies in recent years. While it is currently a small R&D team, it expects to add dozens of jobs in the region within the next two years to develop its production facilities.
Chad has been involved in early-stage technology companies for over 30 years and works with aspiring entrepreneurs at local universities with advice and connections to launch their companies. In addition to speaking at student-led events, he has met with and mentored student teams looking to build companies in the chemical and renewable industries.
Moving Forward
Chad mentions that Advonex’s customers are global players in their respective industries, so it expects its production facilities to be spread worldwide to be close to the sources and customers of its raw materials.
Chad notes, “In the next five years, Advonex will have scaled up its production to cater to the personal care as well as the industrial market. Moreover, Advonex will have the most sought-after technology that will help customers reach their carbon reductions targets.”
Chad Joshi, President & CEO, Advonex International Corporation
