Looking Back on 2021; and Ahead to 2022

CEO's Year-end Recap and Outlook for the New Year

Published January 25, 2022

By Craig Hunter

Chief Executive Officer at Covalent Metrology

Craig founded Covalent and is CEO. He initially worked in corporate development, finance and strategy, with stints as an M&A banker on Wall Street and as CFO of a small consumer products company. He rediscovered his Silicon Valley roots in 2003, taking a business strategy role at the display division of Applied Materials. In 2005, Craig became founding General Manager and later Managing Director of Applied Materials' solar PV factory product (“SunFab”). He joined Sequoia Capital in 2008 as an entrepreneur-in-residence focused on renewable energy technologies, and the next year he joined Intermolecular (NASDAQ:IMI) to establish and lead that company’s clean energy technology group.

Craig received a A.B. in East Asian Studies from Harvard College and graduated with high distinction from Harvard Business School.

For our team here at Covalent Metrology, 2021 will be remembered not only for the many Covid challenges presented and overcome but also as a watershed year in our corporate evolution. While there is enormous work still to do and much we are still learning, I believe it is fair to say that we made meaningful progress in our ongoing journey to become a real change agent in the world of outsourced analytical services.

In 2021, Covalent:

Grew the team substantially, adding 30 highly talented new team members.
Welcomed 283 additional corporate customers and have now served more than 800 companies, universities, and institutions in total.
Increased revenues by 80% from 2020
Announced six new partnerships, including a major new partnership with JEOL.
Installed 12 brand new, state-of-the-art analytical instruments.
Expanded our facility from 9,000ft² to 24,000ft² in Sunnyvale, CA.
Added 19 labs to our Network Lab program.
Raised a Series B financing round.

Behind the scenes, we have been laying the foundation for 2022 to be a true breakout year. Of course, we have more instruments and more great team members arriving in the coming few weeks and months. But our ambition is much greater than just being a larger version of our past selves. This is the year that Covalent will begin to lead industry transformation.

We believe that our industry has been left behind in the great Digital Transformation that has shaped so many other services we now take for granted in modern life. Industry after industry has deployed software technologies to improve customer experience, accelerate service time, decrease cost to execute, and ultimately provide customers with a better product. It is high time for our customers to enjoy the same benefits and advantages. Starting in the next quarter or two, you will begin to see improvements and changes to both the customer experience and the products and services we deliver.

This is also the year that we introduce new service models that will address our customers’ needs more comprehensively.

Our customers come in all shapes and sizes. There are customers that just need great data at a reasonable price and as soon as possible. And for them, we are seeking to continuously invest and improve our services. But many customers need more than data. They need help. Help solving problems. Help developing products. What they really need is metrology and materials characterization expertise and capability available as-needed, where-needed, and how-needed, fully integrated into their development programs. The fee-for-service model alone does not work for those customers. They need genuine partnership.

In December we announced the hiring of Dr. Yihung Lin from TSMC to establish a Semiconductor Practice Group. This new service announcement is a demonstration of Covalent's strategic intent to develop and deliver customized metrology strategies to solve difficult industry problems. We have developed our roadmap to elevate Covalent's service offerings and customer experience, and in 2022 our team will build on those efforts to strengthen our value proposition and become the go-to materials characterization partner for advanced product development companies.

There are many additional exciting innovations and capabilities on the horizon. Changes to the Covalent Community. To our website. To our customer onboarding process.

Change, adaptation, and strategic evolution. These are our themes for 2022.

Here we come.

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