“Lighter, stronger, but far from perfect”: The performance-scalability challenge for industrial-grade composites and why we invested in ARRIS

Our investment into ARRIS has its origins in the team’s first trip to the Bay Area, and Riley happened to be the very first founder we met. Despite being jet-lagged, Riley’s excitement and energy rubbed off onto us and we walked away from our initial meeting with 2 key takeaways - that there lies expansive potential in carbon fibre composites as the lightweight material of the future, and that the team which Riley assembled has what it takes to scale these advanced composites globally.

The Great Market Potential and the Challenges of Composite Materials Today

Image: Potential end applications of composite parts

When the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the BMW i3 were first rolled out of their assembly plants a decade ago, they had a distinct difference from their predecessors - their structural body frames were made up of nearly 50% carbon fibre composites, instead of the traditional aluminium body structure. The new architecture offers 20% weight savings, improved aerodynamics, and significant cost advantages from reduced fuel consumption (for context: fuel bill makes up ~25% of an airline’s operating expense).

Coupled with industrial electrification, the race towards net zero, and growing consumer demand for lightweight, superior products, composite materials - characterised by its lightweightness, high tensile strength, stiffness, and chemical resistance - have taken the engineering world by storm. Despite these promises, widespread adoption remains elusive, given the following industrialisation hurdles.

1. Poor Fibre Alignment

Image: A snapshot of ARRIS’ topology optimised carbon fibre composite 4-prong bracket, which outperforms current composite structures (Source: Arris)

Fibre orientation is pivotal in the design of a composite structure as it drastically alters the mechanical properties of the product (think: if fibres are misaligned and placed only on 1 or 2 centralised pressure points, the entire structure will crumble when load is applied, as it is not evenly distributed). Yet, achieving the theoretical optimal fibre alignment remains a challenge given the increasingly complex loading conditions these composite structures are subjected to and the suboptimal design approaches today.

2. Low scalability

Mass production has never been synonymous with continuous fibre aligned composite products. Today, composites are either mass produced (via injection moulding) with chopped fibres, which comes at a performance trade-off, or produced in high-cost, low-volumes (via automated fibre placements, tape layup) with continuous fibres.

Why ARRIS?

And so, Why ARRIS? ARRIS is giving the USD 150B+ dollar industry a much-needed overhaul with its additive moulting solution that promises ultimate performance and ultimate scalability.

Our decision came down to 3 things - (1) an exceptional founding team with a unique technology stack, (2) novel products that have achieved clear product market fit and can be widely adopted across several industries, and (3) ARRIS’ commitment to environmental stewardship.

Image: ARRIS’ facility in Berkeley, California (Source: Arris)

1. ARRIS’ Additive Moulding Technology Stack

Materials: ARRIS has developed a proprietary formulation for its materials that is agnostic to fibre and polymer types, balancing factors including strength, thermal conductivity and more. Manufactured in-house, the formulation can also embed additional components such as sensors, antennas, to confer additional properties.

Software: Just as important is ARRIS’ novel design software suite, which helps bridge the gap between design and manufacturing. ARRIS’ software aids engineers in optimising the fibre orientation, performing the necessary simulations, de-risking the development process and ensuring that the final designs that are translated in the manufacturing process are topology-optimised and material-efficient.

Manufacturing: ARRIS’ additive moulding solution aligns continuous fibres precisely along the part’s 3D stress vectors. These parts are subsequently produced in high volumes via a highly automated compression moulding process. Highly scalable and repeatable, results show that ARRIS’ 3D-aligned fibre part resulted in a threefold increase in tensile and flexural strength, relative to existing solutions.

2. Winning Big with Key Industry Players

Image: ARRIS x Brooks: ARRIS’ cutting-edge carbon fibre plates are now available to consumers (Source: Arris)

ARRIS is already working with many notable players across a wide range of industries - from the nearer-term consumer goods, consumer electronics to the longer-term aerospace and automotive sectors, who are all looking for a strong, lightweight, and sustainable solution.

Performance Footwear: ARRIS teamed up with Brooks to develop the most advanced carbon plates for their Hyperion Elite shoes, which had been tested by athletes in the NYC and Boston Marathon. These shoes offer elite runners unmatched energy returns, help shave off athletes’ personal record times, and unlock new categories of performance.

Bicycle Spokes: ARRIS has also made great headway in the bike industry with the launch of new spokes that are 2.7x stronger gram for gram than best-in-class metal aero spokes.

Aerospace: ARRIS is collaborating with ST Engineering to develop innovative composite products - inserts, brackets, and fasteners - that pose significant weight and cost savings to the aerospace industry, all without sacrificing performance.

3. Sustainability at the Forefront

Ultimately, we choose to back companies that are not just disrupting their industry but are also committed to leaving a positive impact on the world, and ARRIS has always established from the get-go that any lasting brand will need to commit to sustainable practices. Unlike wasteful and highly energy intensive composite manufacturing processes, ARRIS’ solution enables cradle-to-cradle manufacturing. Its materials are made up of nearly 50% bio-based content, its process generates zero scrap, and its end parts can be fully recycled for subsequent manufacturing.

What’s Next?

Source: Arris

In our past year of interaction, the ARRIS team has been thoughtful yet expeditious in their decisions and has remained steadfast in growing the company to greater heights. We believe that ARRIS is at an inflection point for growth and we are excited to partner Riley and his entire team as they continue to transform how next-generation advanced composites are made and make inroads into new markets. In the coming years, perhaps you and I will be seated on a bike, a plane or an EV with ARRIS’ parts in it.

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About ARRIS Composites
Arris is creating lighter, stronger, and more sustainable composite materials to empower industry-leading brands with new levels of product performance using next-generation manufacturing techniques.

About Vertex Exploratory Fund (VEF)
VEF is a captive fund under Vertex Holdings that invests in early-stage, disruptive frontier technologies that challenge the status quo and boldly reshape the future.

We are excited to announce our investment in Arris’ USD 34M round, alongside investors such as ST Engineering, Youngone Corporation, XN, and New Enterprise Associates.

Have an interesting idea or want to learn more about the VEF? Find out more here.