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Our mission is to protect people who serve in a wide range of functions – mining ore, advancing science, serving in the military, acting as first responders, etc. – and in doing so are exposed to acids. These workers build our economies and defend our communities, but the PPE they wear is woefully lacking, to the point where exposure, burns, or worse are simply considered “part of the job.” As our company name suggests, we believe they deserve better.
"Neutralcoat has the potential to set a new standard in worker protection in this vertical."
-John Coniglio, Managing Director, OSEA
MATTHEW BOROWIAK
CEO/CHIEF ENGINEER
When I was a freshman in college, I was working in a chemistry lab. We were tasked to conduct an experiment with sulfuric acid. I was told to be very careful and was given gloves and a lab coat. I was cautious, but even without spilling, I felt my hands burn. I ran to my TA and asked what had happened. Their answer was that, as an engineer, this is a danger I would face my whole career and that there was no real solution to the dangers of acids. I decided that this was unacceptable and decided to start a company to create the first acid-neutralizing protective equipment that pre-emptively protects workers.
Sagar Patel
fractional Chief of growth
Sagar Patel is a revenue and growth executive with 15+ years of experience in healthcare and technology. As Founder & CEO of Ocean Calm, he helps startups and small businesses achieve rapid growth by providing go-to-market (GTM) expertise in sales, marketing, and customer success. Sagar has held leadership roles at IBM, Boston Scientific, and Karl Storz Endoscopy, and led revenue teams at three venture-backed healthcare tech startups, including Honor, which reached a $1.25 billion valuation. He is also an active member of Pavilion, a strategic advisor, bringing a proven track record in driving sustainable growth.
Rich Graszl
Rich Graszl brings extensive expertise in customer success and managing large strategic deals, making him an invaluable asset to Workers First. With a career that spans leadership roles at Cloudflare, Oracle, Tanium, and BMC Software, Rich excels in understanding the unique needs of enterprise clients and solving complex challenges. His experience working with mission-critical data and high-stakes environments ensures that Workers First can not only identify the real problems their customers face but also deliver tailored, impactful solutions. Rich's deep knowledge of customer development will help Workers First drive sustainable growth and ensure long-term success for their clients.
head of customer success
Strategic Advisor
RICHARD PARTCH, PhD
TECHNICAL CONSULTANT/
CO-INVENTOR
Dr. Richard Partch is a world-renowned chemist at Clarkson University best known for his work with colloids. His numerous publications and patents deal with organic and medicinal chemistry, polymer chemistry, vapor nucleation and aerosol reactions, nano-micro particle coating and surface functionalization, composites, and waste conversion to fuel oil.
Colleen Cassidy, PhD
Colleen is a neuroscientist and advisor for early-stage startups. She co-founded a preclinical therapeutics company developing a modular gene-silencing technology to treat rare neurodegenerative diseases, and has worked with prominent angel investment groups identifying and evaluating high-quality life sciences companies.
strategic advisor
Strategic Advisor
MICHELE MIGLIUOLO, PhD
BUSINESS Advisor
Michele knows start-ups from every side of the table: he’s been an angel investor; he co-founded five high technology companies; and he’s coached countless startups as an EIR with multiple venture development organizations. Michele is also an entrepreneurship Professor of the Huizenga College of Business at Nova Southeastern University.
JOSEPH CONIGLIO
ADVISOR IN SAFTEY &
cUSTOMER DISCOVERY
Joe Coniglio, the President of OSEA, Inc. and Co-Founder of Safety Badger has more than 15 years in various environmental, health and safety roles over his career to date. Previously as a Captain in the United States Army, Joe served in multiple leadership roles such as battle captain, Battalion Logistics officer and Platoon Leader in both peace time and combat operations.
raj kaul
advisor in sales/marketing
Raj held the the position of Senior Business Development Executive for Norsite Performance Minerals. He is highly experienced in business development, sales and applications engineering with a unique combination of business and technical skills. Through his work he has consistently delivered highly profitable growth and harnesses co-development sales models for customized solutions, leveraging innovations in materials technologies with internal and external collaborators. Before his current position, Raj worked in Tribology and Industrial Abrasives in charge of innovation, engineering, global sales and business development. He has worked in 5 countries on 3 continents and has a knack for Identifying difficult customer problems and developing customized solutions.
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