A GLASGOW company has raised £2.1m, including a £500,000 growth capital investment from Foresight Scottish Growth Fund, to bring its eco-friendly, antimicrobial technology, which eliminates harmful and malodorous bacteria in fabrics, to market.
Novel Technologies Holdings’ third round of investment from the £20 million Foresight Scottish Growth Fund will help it target the healthcare, activewear and hospitality sectors. The SILVERbac technology works by encapsulating pure silver within the fibres of textiles, making the product “antimicrobial for life”.
It claims to be the first technology to infuse fabrics with silver – other products only coat with silver. Silver is a natural antibacterial and can be used to inhibit disease, odour and staining.
The company said the technology has strong appeal in sectors where bacteria are common, such as healthcare where SILVERbac helps to combat pathogens including E. coli and MRSA. In activewear, bacteria contained within sweat can cause discolouration and odour.
Unlike other treatments, SILVERbac does not leach out of products, allowing fabrics to be washed at lower temperatures and with fewer chemicals
Novel Technologies was established in 2017 by inventor Zahir Ahmed and David Evans, a life sciences entrepreneur who identified the commercial potential of SILVERbac technology.
Mr Ahmed’s 25 years’ experience in textile development is complemented by chief executive Jud Lusk’s 30-plus years’ experience in developing and commercialising textiles across global markets. Executive chairman Dr Stewart White has been chief executive of two life-science companies.
Foresight Scottish Growth Fund is financed by the Scottish Government and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Hugh Minnock, senior investment manager at Foresight, said: “The inherent, eco-friendly antimicrobial technology is well-aligned with Foresight’s mission to invest for a smarter future.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here