Growing from the Inside Out

While most waterproofing products do their job entirely on the outside of a surface, Alchemco, Inc.’s products work from the inside out. The company has used VEDP’s International Trade services to pursue a similar inside-out path for its growth. 

VEDP’s trade services help businesses identify potential new markets, develop market entry strategies, and locate strategic partners. Those services were a natural fit for a company aiming to put a proven product in front of new audiences. 

Henrico County-based Alchemco manufactures enzyme-based waterproofing products for concrete construction. Their proprietary technology was developed by chemist Curt Nelson in the 1970s and stands out in a field of primarily oil-based, exterior-focused sealants. 

A Living Sealant

Alchemco’s waterproofing technology is based on a bio-catalyst that seeps into concrete and remains active. The product forms a durable membrane that protects the structure from cracks and contamination — and when cracks do form, the catalyst reacts by adapting to reinforce the affected areas, ensuring the protective membrane stays intact. 

The company’s products are used in myriad applications — bridges, parking structures, water parks, and water treatment plants, among others — and are designed to protect a structure for its entire life cycle. They are made of nontoxic ingredients and certified to be free of volatile organic chemicals.

Alchemco, Inc., Henrico County

“Once they’ve seen it work, people run with it,” said Sascha Sainer, vice president of global sales. “Contractors love it because they generally make more money with less labor. It’s faster and less problematic.” 

In addition to contractors and developers, Alchemco also has a strong consumer base in government infrastructure projects. Transportation departments in countries and states are attracted to the longevity the company’s products provide. 

“We’re able to extend the service life of a piece of infrastructure,” said CEO and President Mario Baggio. “All the infrastructure projects are the main assets a state or a country has.” 

Help in Scaling Up

Baggio bought the intellectual property for the company from Nelson in 2018 and initially handled the international work himself. By 2020, he was investigating several territories for international sales, including Brazil and other South American countries. But for all his enthusiasm, Baggio didn’t have the capacity or experience to effectively manage the intricacies of operating in new markets.

Alchemco first engaged VEDP’s trade services to help find reliable partners in foreign markets. VEDP’s trade programs provide direct support to Virginia companies committed to increasing their international export sales as a corporate growth strategy. Its established network of international service providers helped Alchemco navigate numerous hurdles in establishing its export program, which included getting a foot in the door.

“If I’m cold-calling an international client who has no idea where we are, it’s completely different from a local company calling them in their shared language,” Baggio said. “It’s a completely different approach because VEDP immediately gives credibility that I don’t have in a particular market. Even if you’re a small, growing business here, not a billion-dollar company, we have credibility as if we were a billion-dollar company.”

‘Stronger, Smarter, More Competitive’

That credibility extends to more official channels as well, with VEDP partners helping companies like Alchemco with required certifications and other regulatory compliance issues, which can vary significantly between countries. VEDP helped Alchemco identify those requirements early in the export process, providing guidance and vetting international partners to help them remain in compliance. As Baggio put it, the company has become “stronger, smarter, and more competitive” in the markets it enters.

VEDP also provided grant support for Alchemco to participate in global trade shows, elevating its brand visibility while keeping its costs affordable. Those kinds of events are often where foot enters door in an international sales strategy. For a company like Alchemco, the goal is to get that first project and showcase what its products are capable of.

“To start in a territory is extremely challenging,” Baggio said. “Every client is going to ask what projects you’ve done there, and say, ‘After you build a project, you call me.’ It’s a chicken-egg situation. But in every continent where we work, we’ve been at least doubling our sales year after year.”

Baggio estimates that Alchemco’s revenue is eight times what it was four years ago, and that they have been roughly doubling in size every year. International sales are a huge part of that increase as the company has expanded into key markets, including Kenya and the Philippines.

“We are growing exponentially fast at the moment, not just in the United States, but around the world,” Sainer said. “It’s a multiplier of hundreds of percent. It’s way faster than we thought it would be internationally.”