Tom Burden worked in the National Guard in Toledo where he joined straight after high school. After his incredible service, he studied towards earning a degree in mechanical engineering while working on aircraft that belonged to the National Guard. However, he faced a problem that is common to all those who worked on expensive appliances such as fighter jets. For instance, he wondered where he could put his tools so as to be close, but don’t cause scratches on the surface, so they don’t slide off to the hard floor or inside of a critical part of the aircraft.
He envisioned having a mat that could stay in the same place for hours, without causing scratches and holding onto tools no matter the angle. He took up to 3 solid years doing experiments on polymer mixes and finally found a formula that guarantee flexibility and which ensure that important tools are held onto the same place for longer with no or minimal problems. This material is anti static, a feature that is of great importance for anyone who is interested in working with sensitive and high priced electronic components. What is most important is the fact that this awesome mat is chemical resistant, but can be cleaned effortlessly with clean soapy water.
Grypshon Industries was founded in 2013 and University of Wisconsin provided Tom Burden with the seed capital as well as guidance which resulted in the development for the prototype as well as the manufacture of Grypmats. Burden started selling Grypmats on the web. In 2013, he entered into the Toledo Startup Weekend competition and wins himself a prize.
In July 2016, Burden took part in Experimental Aircraft Association Convention and won the hearts of six distributors who were convinced that this product will work and sold a massive 30,000 mats during the eight days of that convention.
On January 4, 2017, Grypshon started a Kickstarter funding campaign, principally as an approach to evaluate affection or interest for the mats from economic sectors other than avionics and decide the ubiquity of various sizes and plans.
He got some pledges that added up to $10,000. While Burden was persuaded of the estimation of his item, he was frankly stunned when the battle took off like one of the F16’s that had started his thought. The objective of $10,000 was met in 10 hours. By January 13, Grypshon Industries had achieved 300%, and when the campaign comes to an end on February 3, 2017, they had 1,339 people who had backed it and a whopping $113,539 had been raised.
The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) held a convention in Las Vegas in November 3 2017 and this is where Grypshon Industries received a 2018 Global Media Award for taking its time to showcase the best new product of the year and were named the Grand Prize winner in the LaunchPad competition 2017.
Grypshon Industries appeared on Shark Tank in November 12 2017 and also took part in the Performance Racing Industry Convention at the Indianapolis-Convention Center that was held in December 7-10, 2017.
