Composite building systems startup launches funding round

Residential and commercial building systems manufacturer Galexa Homes (Naples, Fla., U.S.) recently announced that it has launched a new funding round via crowdfunding site Start Engine.

In 2018, the company Galexa was founded to build affordable, local housing. First, CEO Chuck Ardezzone and his team tried converting used, metal shipping containers into housing panels, but they quickly decided that metal is too susceptible to rust for Florida’s humid climate. After exploring several options, the company turned to fiberglass composites to meet climate and durability needs.

Galexa spent the next three years on R&D efforts and building several prototypes of composite tiny homes and blast- and bullet-proof military shelters. According to Ardezzone, the exterior wall frames have been certified according to Florida building codes and achieved a 250-mile-per-hour wind rating.

“The cell is hurricane-proof, airtight and watertight,” he explains. “It’s as strong as steel but lighter than steel, more durable than wood or rebar, won’t rust and if we stack up several fabrics, it’s military-grade bullet-proof. We realized once we started building and testing that this idea is much bigger than we originally thought.”

In December 2020, a separate company called Galexa Homes was formed, shifting focus from building houses to supplying pre-engineered, all-composite wall, floor and roof systems to builders and contractors. The systems are assembled by Galexa Homes from 0.25-inch fiberglass panels and pultruded fiberglass C-channels from partner Strongwell (Bristol, Va., U.S.). Ardezzone says his team assembles the building systems at the company’s facility, delivers to the build site, and will partially set up the finished frame. The wall systems are said to be competitively priced with concrete, and more durable than wood.

This year, Ardezzone says Galexa Homes has begun taking orders for a variety of residential and commercial structures, such as single- and multi-family homes, telecommunications data centers and military structures.

Goals for the new funding include moving from a current rented manufacturing space to a new facility, and installation of a robotic assembly system.