5 quick questions for an Arctic startup: PanAlaska’s panels transforming Arctic construction

The Arctic region is home to a growing number of innovative startups, each navigating the unique challenges and opportunities of the Far North. In our new spotlight series, Five Quick Questions for an Arctic Startup, we’re inviting startups from the Near Arctic and Arctic regions to share their stories and insights on Arctic Today.

This Q&A series provides a platform for startups to answer five key questions, offering a glimpse into their groundbreaking ideas, the distinctiveness of their innovations, and the lessons learned from working in this remote yet vital part of the world. Stay tuned as we explore how these trailblazers are shaping the future of the Arctic economy, infrastructure, and culture. In our first of the series Glenn Brady from PanAlaska told us about his Fairbanks, Alaska startup.

What is your elevator pitch?

• PanAlaska manufactures high-performance Arctic-grade super-insulated modular building panels that can be rapidly assembled using simple hand-tools and much less skilled labor than conventional methods of construction.

What makes your idea unique and hard to copy?

• The ArcticLight Modular Structural System(tm) technology manufactured by PanAlaska is engineered specifically to withstand the harsh realities of deployment and use in the Arctic and is tolerant of water without degradation of structural or thermal performance. The ArcticLight MSS(tm) panels are fully structural and ready-to-finish without any sheathing, have an insulative value of R-50+ and are patent-pending.

How does being located in the Far North affect your business, both challenges or benefits?

• Living and working in the Arctic is required to fully understand the environmental, logistical, and economic challenges that are our daily realities. This perspective has informed both the critical need for our technology to help address the housing crisis as well as the design features of the ArcticLight MSS(tm). Being closer to the critical need is also a significant logistical advantage.

Who is your ideal investor?

• PanAlaska’s ideal investor is someone who recognizes the need for high-quality, affordable, efficient, resilient housing infrastructure that is crucial for the future integrity of Alaska (and Arctic) economy, security, and culture and is willing to partner to help realize a viable solution to these challenges.

What is the hardest or most surprising lesson you have learned?

• While there has been nearly universal and vocal support for our technology and accolades for construction of our pilot-scale manufacturing facility (all out-of-pocket), securing necessary capital to expand our manufacturing capacity to meet the high demand for our technology has been surprisingly challenging.

If you would like your company to be featured in Five Quick Questions for an Arctic Startup, send us an email: [email protected].