St. Paul-based start-up EarthClean Corporation announced Monday that it has completed a $1 million round of financing. The funds, raised from angel investors, will be used to commercialize the company's green firefighting product-TetraKnockOut or TetraKO.

TetraKO comes in powder concentrate form. When added to water, it turns into a nontoxic gel similar to hand sanitizer, containing 99.5 percent water, and the rest corn starch and a secret ingredient. On top of being environmentally friendly, TetraKO extinguishes fires up to 10 times faster than traditional chemicals.

EarthClean claims that TetraKO has been independently certified as biodegradable and nontoxic by several labs.

“It is a testament to the technology and the people behind TetraKO that we've been able to raise an additional $1 million from local angel investors in an extremely challenging investment climate,” Doug Ruth, founder and CEO of EarthClean, said in a statement. “The Minnesota angel tax credit was certainly a factor in our success.”

In addition to securing financing, EarthClean also announced that it has signed a contract with Atira Systems-a Portland, Oregon-based company that will distribute TetraKO in parts of the western United States.

EarthClean was incorporated in March 2009. The engineers and scientists behind TetraKO spent six years developing the product and hail from companies such as H.B. Fuller and 3M.

EarthClean received top honors in the Cleantech Open North Central Region-a business competition that recognizes green startups-and placed third in the national competition. The company was also grand-prize winner and renewable energy division winner of the Minnesota Cup, a statewide competition that seeks out aspiring entrepreneurs.