Flexible Solutions International

Flexible Solutions International

Daniel B. O'Brien founded Flexible Solutions International in 1991 and has since led the company as its chief executive. The firm's core intellectual property originated from research into polyaspartic acid, a biodegradable polymer the company now manufactures and sells under the trade names Thermal Polyaspartate and Nanoclear. Headquartered in Taber, Alberta, it operates as a specialty chemical manufacturer listed on the NYSE American exchange. The company's revenue comes from two segments: energy and water conservation products, and biodegradable polymers. Its flagship product, WaterSavr, is a monolayer-forming compound that reduces evaporation from reservoirs, lakes, and irrigation canals. A separate agricultural line, developed through its NanoChem Solutions subsidiary, produces polyaspartic acid salts used as fertilizer additives to boost crop uptake. Distribution spans the United States, Australia, the Middle East, and Central America, with sales historically tied to drought-affected regions and large-scale water utilities. Flexible Solutions operates a small, engineering-heavy team without a disclosed institutional asset base, as it is an operating company rather than an investment manager. The firm reported total consolidated revenue of approximately $11 million in its third quarter of 2024, driven largely by WaterSavr orders from a major US agency (per the firm's November 2024 quarterly filing). The company maintains a manufacturing footprint in Illinois and an R&D center in Washington state. The subsidiary NanoChem Solutions remains its primary vehicle for scaling agricultural applications, while the parent company explores international reservoir-management contracts. Flexible Solutions is structurally distinct as a public operating business that owns a targeted, patent-protected manufacturing niche rather than a capital-allocating family office or manager. The alignment is purely product-driven—the firm's value is tied to the deployment and sale of its own chemical formulas, not to managing pools of financial assets. O'Brien, who holds a Ph.D. in chemistry, still runs the company directly, and no externally controlled investment funds sit beneath the corporate entity.