Glide Nano looks to grow its impact with Kickstarter campaign

University of Arkansas research project-turned-startup Glide Nano is ready to take center stage in the skiing and snowboarding community. The young company is producing fluoro-free ski waxes in line with the EPA’s initiative to regulate and reduce the use of perfluorinated ski waxes.

 The ski wax, which resembles a bar of chocolate, recently took home the top prize in a Startup Junkie IdeaFame pitch competition held at the University of Arkansas for local college students. And now, University researchers are ready to take the product to another level.

 The idea for Glide Nano was the product of chance. University researchers were contacted nearly a year ago by a Belgian skiing enthusiast who had come across an article they had published in a scientific journal. The article highlighted their work on reducing friction and wear through the use of nano surface engineering.

 Ten months later, those same researchers had developed a product that outperformed anything else on the market – and it was incredibly eco-friendly. 

“Six million U.S. residents live with drinking water above the perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) safety limit,” said Samuel Beckford, Ph.D., one of the researchers involved in the Glide Nano project. “Perfluorinated ski waxes containing PFAS, leach off onto the snow and run off into streams once the snow melts.”

 To prevent this from contaminating our drinking water, he said, the EPA has begun to regulate the use of these perfluorinated waxes.

 “At Glide Nano, we have developed a ski wax that outperforms perfluorinated ski waxes and helps preserve our environment,” said Beckford. “Because our drinking water is so contaminated with plastics and PFAS, it is essential for us as a society to be conscious of the products we use that can cause this contamination. By using an ecofriendly ski wax, we can significantly impact the amount of PFAS that ends up in our drinking water.”

 Beckford and the Glide Nano team are crowdfunding their startup through Kickstarter, with a set goal of $10,000. Their Kickstarter campaign can be found here.

 “Whether you just love to ski or snowboard or are simply interested in preserving our environment, please join our campaign to bring this product to market,” said Beckford.

 The Kickstarter campaign is now live.