A Serial Tech Entrepreneur Who's Found A Home In Holliston | Peter Bransfield CEO, Rypos Inc.
Photo/Ron Bouley
Peter C. Bransfield, CEO of Rypos in Holliston, predicts growth for the diesel emissions filter manufacturer.
Early in his career, Peter C. Bransfield worked in Washington, D.C., for a marketing, management and consulting firm that helped U.S. companies build overseas operations and helped foreign companies do business in the states. These days, as the CEO of Holliston's Rypos Inc., he runs a company that does all its manufacturing locally and sources much of its material from Massachusetts - and has grown exponentially by doing things that way.
Bransfield is a business-minded guy whose skill set involves helping technology-minded guys make money. Before Rypos, his projects included helping a family-owned Long Island aerospace company grow from a $3.5 million startup to a $30 million business so that it could be sold, co-founding a startup to record and analyze flight data and then selling it, and helping recapitalize a struggling spectral imagery company.
Bransfield says he likes taking a kernel of an idea and turning it into something that creates real value for employees, shareholders and everyone else involved in a company.
"That's the part that I really enjoy the most," he says.
In 2007 Bransfield took on the task of commercializing Rypos. The company was about seven years old then and had been developing new filtration technology for diesel engine exhaust.
At that point, Bransfield says, Rypos had six or seven employees. It's now up to 42, with most of the new additions in engineering or manufacturing jobs. In July 2009, Rypos moved to a larger location in Holliston to accommodate its production operations.
As with his previous projects, Bransfield's goal for Rypos is to reach a point where it can either "find a home" within a larger company or go public. Bransfield says that means turning it into a $100 million company. The company is now in year two of a five-year plan to reach that point, he says, and things are moving ahead of schedule.
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Right now, he says, the company is right on the edge of profitability, with $11 million in sales for 2009. Venture funding, including an $8 million round in October, helps keep it well capitalized.
Bransfield and his wife have lived in Hopkinton for 14 years. They have two children in the local high school, and he serves on the board of directors for a robotics team that draws students from several MetroWest communities.
He says the MetroWest area also has some significant advantages as a place to run a business. For one thing, some of Rypos's employees hail from the local area, and others from as far away as New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
"Being on the 495 belt really enables us to attract from all over the region," he says.
Compared to the Route 128 corridor, I-495 has much easier access, for both workers and materials, according to Bransfield.
That's important because Rypos sources much of its materials locally. Doing that is simply a matter of good business practices, Bransfield says. In addition to its other attributes, New England has good electrical suppliers and metal fabricators, and the shipping costs make it easier to buy more locally.
"We're very pleased with this area, and Holliston in particular," he says.
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