The Partnership for Economic Innovation is investing $250,000 in Swift Coat, its newest member of its Applied Research Centers. The Phoenix-based nanotechnology startup traces its roots to Arizona State University research and has grown into a key supplier to the U.S. satellite industry. The funding will support the development and research of its proprietary thin-film nanoparticle coating technology that increases solar panel efficiency in aerospace applications.
Paired with federal grants, PEI’s Applied Research Centers funding and support from the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) provide Swift Coat access to capital and resources that accelerate commercialization, open doors to new markets, and connect founders with the customers and investors who move its product forward. In the last 18 months, Swift Coat has secured $4.7M in contracts from the aerospace industry including a $1.8M contract from the Air Force. PEI and ACA have amplified that investment by introducing Swift Coat to key industry partners and providing the kind of agile, applied support that transforms promising research into commercial-ready technology.
“There are very few places in the country that are as good for doing material science work as Phoenix is,” said Peter Firth, co-founder, Swift Coat. “We can secure the materials and hardware we need to conduct research and build our products much faster here than we could in other cities because of the major companies that already call Phoenix home and the suppliers that have located here to support them. That infrastructure makes a real difference for growing companies like Swift Coat.”
Co-founded by Zach Holman and Peter Firth, Swift Coat started as a research project at ASU, eventually moving into their own 500-foot lab at the university. Today, the company operates from a 16,000-square-foot facility in North Phoenix, employs eight full-time team members, and holds a U.S. Air Force contract to build a production line that could supply the entire U.S. satellite industry.
With approximately 16,000 satellites currently in orbit, over the next four years, the satellite industry will see a surge in demand, with a projected 65,000 more expected to launch, according to McKinsey & Company. Swift Coat’s proprietary coating technology helps to couple more light into a solar cell resulting in the same solar panel producing more power. In 2025, Swift Coat sold its first production coating system to a leading manufacturer of space qualified solar panels. Later this year, the company is expected to release a new, higher-performing, product that utilizes Swift Coat’s technology.
“Watching a company like Swift Coat advance from a university research project to a supplier for the U.S. satellite industry is exactly what Arizona’s innovation ecosystem was built to support,” said Kathleen Lee, Director of Applied Research Centers, Partnership for Economic Innovation. “When the right funding reaches the right innovators, the results are revolutionary. Arizona’s continued investment in companies like Swift Coat demonstrates what becomes possible when research institutions, innovation organizations, and industry work together toward a shared goal.”
Swift Coat’s growth reflects PEI’s mission to close the gap between research and commercialization. The company expanded from a two-person university research team to eight full-time employees, seven of whom are ASU graduates, with plans to grow its workforce to between 12 and 15 people. Swift Coat is also working to scale its annual coating capacity from 5,000 square meters to 100,000 square meters, with production equipment running between 16 and 24 hours per day. The nanoparticle coating technology Swift Coat developed for aerospace solar panels is also applicable to terrestrial solar panels, extending the company’s reach into the clean energy market.
