MPC²: Leoben-based start-up declares war on corrosion
The Styrian Economic Development Corporation has named another company as its company of the month: MPC² aims to revolutionize corrosion testing of industrial plants from its base in Leoben. Corrosion is a well-known problem in industrial plants. It slowly eats its way through tanks, pressure vessels, and pipelines in the form of chemical reactions. Testing materials for their robustness has therefore been standard practice for years, but it is a laborious process: parts of the system have to be cut out and taken to laboratories for time-consuming tests.
Manuel Prohaska, an experienced manager in the industry, knows these processes all too well. Based on his own “painful experience,” as he puts it, he decided a few years ago to revolutionize the field. And so, in December 2022, the corrosion scientist, who holds a doctorate, founded a start-up called MPC².
The goal is to “make traditional, stationary laboratory tests portable,” he explains. Using a measuring device called “Corrosion Ray,” currently in its second prototype stage, Prohaska travels to factories and conducts tests that take only about an hour. The entrepreneur has already filed patent applications in Europe, Japan, and the USA.
A family-run start-up:
A team of four has now formed around the 42-year-old – including his wife, Simone Prohaska, laboratory manager and quality manager. The two met during their studies at the University of Leoben, and their daughter recently completed an internship at MPC². Operating as a family business, they have now won the Styrian Business Promotion Agency’s “Company of the Month” award.
This is just the beginning. “In ten years, we want to produce and sell hundreds of measuring devices,” says Prohaska. And ideally, worldwide. The fertilizer sector is considered a promising market. To make all this a reality, the team is currently seeking investors.
Source: https://www.krone.at/4253324
