Medtech firm secures €1.5m funding
Dublin company Kastus has earned investment of €1.5 million in a funding round led by the Atlantic Bridge University Fund
Company: Kastus
Done deal:€1.5m funding
The clincher:“Kastus strongly represents the commercial strength of world-class academic research undertaken in Ireland” - Chris Horn, Atlantic Bridge Partners
Dublin company Kastus has earned investment of €1.5 million in a funding round led by the Atlantic Bridge University Fund for its technology designed to kill superbugs resistant to antibiotics.
Kastus, which has also secured funding from Carragh Holdings, a Singapore-based investor syndicate and Enterprise Ireland, has developed a patented agent that can kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria such as MRSA and E.coli.
The agent can be applied as a surface treatment to paint, plastic, ceramic and glass, offering protection for everyday items like smartphones and door handles.
Company founder and chief executive John Browne plans to bring a range of patented products to the market, having commercialised and funded research led by scientists at Dublin Institute of Technology’s Centre for Research in Engineering Surface Technology over ten years.
Kastus will initially target manufacturers of glass used in high-touch surfaces, including electronics, laptops and tablet computers and mobile phones.
“We’re focusing first on the surfaces that people touch a lot. There is more bacteria on your average smartphone than a toilet seat. Our technology is proven on smartphone screens to kill all of that bacteria so there is a ready market there and people are becoming more aware of it.”
Kastus is also targeting global ceramics manufacturers in the Middle East and paint and plastics companies in the US.
“Our products have such a wide appeal that we need to focus on the markets we can best service. I’ve just walked out of a meeting with a multinational paint companies, for example,” said Browne.
“There are companies with global reach that we’re hoping to collaborate and partner with, which will use our technology in their products. That gives them a unique selling point and it gives us a direct route to market.”
Kastus has moved into new offices with laboratory and research facilities at the Greenway Hub on DIT’s Grangegorman campus.
The company plans to open offices in Britain and the US next year with support from Atlantic Bridge and Enterprise Ireland.
It will create up to 12 jobs in the next eight months and is recruiting for positions in business development, sales and marketing.
Browne said the funding from Atlantic Bridge’s University Fund, which invests in third level research-based spin-outs, was a strong validation of Kastus’ scientific research. “Atlantic Bridge brings significant expertise of scaling global companies from Europe in the US and in China, which are key markets for us,” he said.
Kastus’ water-based solution can be applied to any glass, ceramic or metallic surface during the production process, rendering the surface 99.9 per cent resistant to superbugs like MRSA, E. coli and other fungi.
Using nanotechnology, the solution is sprayed onto the product, such as a smartphone, and then baked into it, forming a permanently hard and transparent surface.
It can be used in hospitals and medical facilities and on items, equipment and machines ranging from ATMs, handrails, lifts and fridges, to microwaves and ceramic floor or wall tiles.
“We’re not a pre start-up, in that I’ve been involved with the technology for a decade now, but we formed the company three years ago and most of or efforts in that time has been around patents and IP protection.
“We have secured US and British patents now, and we have global patents pending. We’re ready to go,” said Browne.
