Nanostellar, a startup striving to replace platinum group materials in catalytic converters with efficient, lower-costs nanocatalysts, raised $3 million in first round financing.

Conventional catalytic technologies utilize platinum as the main catalyst to control automobile emissions and to generate clean energy power. Nanostellar’s platinum nano-composite material design technology reduces the amount of platinum required for conventional catalytic processes by combining platinum with other less costly metals to make nanoparticles.

Nanostellar has filed five broad patent applications to-date on proprietary technology for the rational design and rapid fabrication of efficient and low-cost nano catalysts. Application areas include gasoline engine three-way catalysts, lean-burn diesel engine catalytic materials, fuel cell proton exchange membrane assemblies, and catalysts for the chemical and petrochemical industries.

The company plans to make engineering samples available to strategic partners this year.