{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"NC Tweener Talks","title":"Natrx: The Company Growing Coral Reefs Out of Concrete","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2566,"description":"Tad Schwendler, COO of Natrx, joins Scot Wingo to talk about manufacturing concrete structures that work with nature instead of against it. Natrx, a North Carolina company and Tweener Fund portfolio company, has developed a patented dry-forming process that injects moisture into dry material to create rough, complex structures capable of slowing water, encouraging natural sediment buildup, and even supporting live coral growth. Tad walks through the company's founding story, which traces back to coastal engineers doing oyster reef restoration at LSU and a chance meeting with NC State-connected software co-founders, and shares how his own background in corporate development and M&A led him into a hands-on operating role at a manufacturing startup. The conversation covers the physical scale of what Natrx builds, from three-foot units weighing just under a ton to twelve-thousand-pound structures bound for a coral restoration project in Hawaii, along with the company's growth: more than 85 physical deployments, over 100,000 units placed, and roughly 80 percent revenue growth year over year. It's a hands-on, visual episode and the first in a new series on North Carolina's under-the-radar physical manufacturing companies.\nTimestamps:\n00:00 Cold open and sponsor thanks\n01:30 Welcome and series intro: NC's under-known manufacturing companies\n03:12 Introducing Tad Schwindler, COO of Natrx\n04:00 Formal welcome to the show\n04:42 Tad's background: Atlanta, Duke, the Triangle\n05:56 What does a COO actually do at Natrx?\n07:58 Duke, Tulane, and a lifelong pull toward marine science\n09:31 The founding story of Natrx\n09:43 Two coastal engineers, oyster reefs, and LSU\n11:13 Founded in 2018, commercializing by 2021\n11:33 Nick's background: mechanical engineering meets software\n12:52 What Natrx actually builds\n13:13 Stopping water vs. working with it\n15:44 Families of shapes: lattice, wave slope, and scaling up\n19:02 How big are these things, and how deep do they go\n21:12 What is...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/UEzoK7N1siD9YRaSVBWfZ8B3suSS2aonEIZ5NwBH1Gs/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80NjBh/YWVhZTA4ZTUyY2Fl/MDdhNzQwZWFhNDI4/MDc3Zi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}