Best Chemicals and Materials Companies in Cleveland, United States
The 35 best Chemicals and Materials companies in Cleveland, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals.
Our analysis of 50 Chemicals and Materials companies
$3.9b in tracked funding; 74% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Chemicals and Materials companies in Cleveland
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Founded | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland-Cliffs Iron ore producer of pellets | — | 9 mo ago | Public | Lourenco Goncalves CEO & President | 1847 | WordPressMySQLPHP+34 | 129 patents Advanced steel processing, welding, and surface treatment for automotive and industrial applications. | — |
| 2 | Materion Manufacturer of advanced materials and precision components | — | 20 mo ago | Public | Jugal Vijayvargiya President and Chief Executive Officer | 1931 | Optimizely Content ManagementMicrosoft ASP.NETYouTube+16 | 784 patents Advanced metal alloy and high-purity ceramic manufacturing for high-strength, conductive components | — |
| 3 | Austin Powder Global leader providing explosives, blasting services, and digital solutions for mining | — | 26 mo ago | Late Stage | John Rathbun Chief Executive Officer | 1833 | WordPressMySQLPHP+15 | — | — |
| 4 | Sherwin Williams Manufacturer of paints, coatings, stains, and related supplies and equipment | — | 97 mo ago | Public | John Morikis CEO | 1866 | Cart FunctionalityWordPressMySQL+30 | 1,406 patents Advanced paint and coating formulations, including water‑dispersible polymers and powder coating technologies. | — |
| 5 | Ferro Specialty chemicals and minerals solutions bringing color, performance, and vibrancy to life | — | 100 mo ago | Acquired | Harry D Cushman Founder | 1919 | — | 947 patents Advanced glass frits, coatings, and conductive inks for laser marking and electronics | — |
| 6 | A-Brite Plating Provider of tooling, molding, chroming, exterior trim, surface finishing, and assembly services | — | — | Acquired | David Wiskel CEO | 1946 | — | — | — |
| 7 | Aetna Plastics Manufacturer of industrial plastic materials | — | — | Acquired | Paul Davis Founder | 1946 | — | — | — |
| 8 | aleris international Aleris is a privately-held company, focused on the manufacture and sale of aluminum rolled products. | — | — | Acquired | — | 1999 | — | 2 patents Alternative construction tile materials for building and flooring applications | — |
Top 5 Chemicals and Materials companies in Cleveland
#1
Public · Cleveland, Ohio · founded 1847 · 39117 employees—raised▾
Cleveland-Cliffs is an iron ore company. Their products and services include HBI and iron ore pallets. Claims to be one of the largest iron ore producers of pellets in North America. In 2022, the company recorded annual revenues of $22.33B and a net profit of $0.48B.
#2
Public · Cleveland, Ohio · founded 1931 · 574 employees—raised▾
Manufacturer of advanced materials and precision components for diverse sectors. It provides beryllium products, clad metals, high-performance alloys, and technical ceramics. The company also offers electronic materials, microelectronic packaging solutions, and precision optics. Its expertise encompasses material processing, chemical processing, and additive manufacturing, along with analysis and testing services. These materials and components are used in aerospace & defense, automotive, consumer electronics, energy, industrial, semiconductor, and telecom applications.
#3
Late Stage · Cleveland, Ohio · founded 1833 · 1215 employees—raised▾
Global leader providing explosives, blasting services, and digital solutions for mining. The company improves the world through the safe and responsible use of explosives. It offers bulk explosives, sustainable products, blasting software, and innovative training programs. The company manufactures a wide variety of explosive products and initiation systems. They leverage robotics and automation, and digital solutions to enhance mining operations. Safety is the first priority, with comprehensive protocols and training. The company is customer-focused, building lasting relationships based on trust and reliability. They provide engineering, operations, and blasting services. The company is committed to environmental initiatives, ethics, and transparency. They serve various industries through mining excellence and a global footprint.
#4
Public · Cleveland, Ohio · founded 1866 · 64088 employees—raised▾
Manufacturer of paints, coatings, stains, and related supplies and equipment. The company provides products for architectural, industrial, packaging, and transportation applications. It offers a range of solutions for professionals and homeowners, including color selection tools and resources. The company also provides equipment and supplies for painting projects.
#5
Acquired · Cleveland, Ohio · founded 1919 · 3585 employees—raised▾
Specialty chemicals and minerals solutions bringing color, performance, and vibrancy to life. The company delivers advanced materials, functional coatings, and color solutions across diverse markets. They offer a wide array of products including ceramic décor colors, digital inks, chemical dispersions, electronic materials, and more. Their solutions enhance product safety, durability, and sustainability. They serve industries such as automotive, construction, electronics, packaging, paints, and coatings. They focus on innovation, research, and development to meet customer challenges. They provide colorants, pigments, and specialty materials for various applications. They are committed to sustainability, offering eco-friendly tinting systems and materials for EV batteries. They are a B2B company.
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Chemicals and Materials coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on Advanced Materials is moving in the United States
A read on the academic research around Advanced Materials — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 1,306 United States-affiliated papers.
- Georgia Institute of Technology46
- Purdue University West Lafayette46
- North Carolina State University39
- Northeastern University36
- Texas A&M University34
- Smart material61→108
- Soft robotics4→36
- Morphing8→35
- Nanotechnology19→46
- Elastomer18→41
- Nanotechnology12→29
- Soft robotics2→13
- Fabrication4→12
- Liquid crystal3→10
- 3D printing6→12
- Smart material10→18
- Nanotechnology7→9
- Shape-memory alloy2→4
Where advanced materials is researched across United States
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
Who's filing advanced materials patents in the United States
United States advanced materials patent filing is cooling — 88,582 filings from 8,000 assignees (2016–2025), led by IBM, General Electric, Halliburton Energy Services; annual filings 9852→6833.
- IBM5881
- General Electric4493
- Halliburton Energy Services3870
- Intel3631
- UNIV California3335
- 3M Innovative Properties3293
- Corning3129
- United States Gypsum2665
Common questions
Riya reads income statements for fun. She covers the real money in a sector — revenue, growth, who actually earns — and never met a vague claim she didn't want a number for.