Applied Materials and Science Startup case study

An early-stage applied materials startup, backed by a national-lab incubator and several federal research programs, is building a new class of chemical reactor that uses precisely tuned electric fields instead of heat and pressure to run industrial chemistry.

Because the field is the reaction mechanism, electrical engineering sits at the core of the product, yet neither founder had an EE background. The roles they needed most, starting with a founding electrical engineer with a path towards CTO, were the ones they were least equipped to evaluate.

Colare builds scenarios from the startup's own high-voltage hardware, scores candidates across the competencies the reactor depends on, and walks the founders through the trade-offs between finalists. It's how they made their founding hire, and how they're approaching the technical roles that come next.