Susan MacKay steps down as Cerahelix CEO

Susan MacKay has stepped down as CEO of Cerahelix, the Orono-based company she founded in 2011 that has patented a process to create high-tech ceramic nanofiltration devices for use in wastewater management and other industrial applications. Maine Startups Insider last year selected Cerahelix as a 2019 Startup to Watch.

MacKay, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Maine before founding the company, told Maine Startups Insider that she resigned in February. She declined to discuss the details of her departure, directing questions to Alex Crowell, a Cerahelix board member and investor who has taken over as interim CEO. She has already begun a new job as a senior program manager at the UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center.

“I am still committed to Cerahelix being successful and I have a great deal of respect for the team that I put together, the Cerahelix technology, and the support that the company received from Maine investors and organizations over the years,” MacKay told Maine Startups Insider. “As for me, I am focused on using my skills and experience in my new role where I can have a greater impact on growing the economy of Maine.”

Crowell, who lives in the Netherlands, is managing director of PureTerra Ventures, a private equity fund focused on “investing in disruptive water technologies.” The Shanghai-based fund led Cerahelix’s $2 million investment round in 2018. He has more than 25 years of experience in the global water and wastewater industry.

He told Maine Startups Insider that he has a tremendous amount of respect for MacKay and the company she has been able to build.

“Susan has done an amazing job building this company and putting together a world-class team in Orono,” Crowell said. “I’ve never met someone who could stretch a dollar the way she has.”

MacKay resigned, he said, because she preferred developing and improving the technology rather than the tasks necessary to commercialize the company’s ceramic nanofiltration technology and scale the company.

“I think she could have done it, but it would have taken her a lot longer than if a CEO would come in who is just absolutely geared toward taking a technology and driving it into the marketplace,” Crowell said. “She recognized that to get this technology to the next phase, it’s going to take someone who has scorch marks all over them from doing this repeatedly.”

Executive search under way

The company has already begun a search for the next CEO. It needs a technology executive with experience commercializing a technology, but also one who “understands the culture of water and that market,” Crowell said. The collection of c-suite executives in the water industry that fit that description is not that large, which means the search could be challenging.

“Because of COVID, there is a boatload of early and medium-stage growth companies out there that are going to be in for a rough ride and what’s going to happen are c-suite employees are going to be displaced,” he said. “Maine is a lovely place, but to get someone to pick up their family and move to Maine for s startup won’t be easy. The upside is the technology and the future it has may be attractive enough.”

Despite the potential difficulty in finding the right person to lead the company, he said he doesn’t think moving the company out of Maine is an option.

“I like the fact it’s in Maine. The people are amazing, there’s a great culture to draw from, the University of Maine is right there, and there’s no shortage of talent,” Crowell said. “And the state of Maine, as far as a home for a startup goes, have been very supportive.”

While the executive search is ongoing, Crowell said the company is in a good position to continue its positive momentum. He confirmed the company is still working on the major project with a Fortune 50 company that MSI reported on last May and has $60 million worth of projects in its pipeline. The company is also in the process of raising between $3 million and $5 million, Crowell said.

impact of COVID-19

“We’re literally walking into a fog,” said Crowell, who is in isolation with his family in the Netherlands. “It’s not like a downturn in the economy or the housing crash of 2008, something that had a mathematical formula and an outcome and a path for how we drag our selves out. There’s no way to measure it and the ramifications going forward.”

Despite that, the company is not facing an existential risk as a result of COVID-19 upending the global economy, he said. Water, he explained, is somewhat recession-proof.

“What I can tell you is that for the most part, water is water. People still turn the tap and want water to come out and have showers and want to open up a bottle of beer and have a drink,” Crowell said. “Water is just one of those things people take for granted. Its usage doesn’t change, so the impact won’t.”

The impact he’s measuring, he said, is on the team.

“I’m not looking at it as a company; I’m looking at it as 17 mortgages that need to be paid. And all these people being young, they have grandparents still alive and so we’re staying cognizant,” he said. “We continue to function, but are looking inwardly. We just don’t know what the outcome will be, so we’re focused on the human side of this.”