Capella Kerst

Post-pitch story

Capella Kerst brought one of the most memorable deep-tech pitches to The Pitch: a reusable dry adhesive inspired by gecko feet. It grips without glue, leaves no residue and can stick and unstick thousands of times. The technology came out of PhD research, has already flown on the International Space Station, and counted NASA, Ford and PG&E among its early customers. geCKo had raised a $2 million seed round in 2021, famously in under 36 hours. Kerst's episode was promoted in August 2024 as a founder who "crushes her VC pitch." According to The Pitch's own 2025 fundraising retrospective, she negotiated a $26 million pre-money valuation during the raise that followed. In October 2024, geCKo competed in TechCrunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield. TechCrunch described it as a company that wants to sell you "the next Velcro," and geCKo took second place overall. Funding databases report that geCKo closed a seed round of about $8 million at the end of December 2024, led by KittyHawk Ventures with Alumni Ventures, for roughly $10 million raised in total. We couldn't find a press release confirming that round, so treat the figures as reported, not official. Either way, the direction is clear. geCKo is moving from a lab curiosity to a real materials business.