Reading's KYMIRA Sport CEO named Scale-Up Entrepreneur of the year at National Awards
Reading-based founder of sports tech Kymira Tim Brownstone has been named Scale-Up Entrepreneur of the year for the GBEA Southeast winner at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.
In partnership with Starling Bank, the ceremony was held at Grosvenor House in London on and saw 159 entrepreneurs across the UK recognised for their entrepreneurial stories and achievements over the last year.
The Great British Entrepreneur Awards launched in 2012 to celebrate the best of British enterprise, inviting founders from across the UK to apply with their entrepreneurial success stories.
This year, after having to hold the awards virtually in 2020, the organisers brought together all eight of their regional shortlists for the first time, with a guest list of 1,200 entrepreneurs, judges, mentors, investors and partners invited to the London celebration.
The judging panel said of KYMIRA: “This is clearly a highly innovative business with a broad base of applications. Timothy has shown considerable courage and vision to get to this point, and take-off growth would seem to be imminent."
KYMIRA Sport is the world’s leading producer of infrared performance and recovery garments. Their KYnergy infrared embedded fabrics feature specially designed fibres which contain carefully selected natural minerals. These minerals are selected for their ability to absorb otherwise wasted energy from the wearer and surrounding light. The energy is then converted into a targeted region of the infrared light spectrum, which causes an array of positive biological effects. KYMIRA target a specific area of infrared because of the very specific effects it has to aid, support and enhance human performance and recovery. Unlike other infrared technologies on the market, KYnergy technology is locked into the fibres and can never escape until the materials are recycled, the technology is built to last the life cycle of the garment. This means that our technology will never lose its effectiveness and will never fail you.
Tim Brownstone said: “Winning the GBEA for best Scale-Up is a fantastic recognition of all the hard work that the team at KYMIRA are putting in to truly distinguish ourselves as visionaries and innovators delivering wearable technologies to the frontiers of industry and homes around the world.”
Over the last decade, the Awards has celebrated some household names including Alan and Juliet Barratt of Grenade and Shaun Pulfrey of Tangle Teezer. Its most recent headline-grabbing success story is its previous winner, and speaker at this year's event, Steven Bartlett, who in May was announced as the youngest ever Dragon on BBC’s Dragons Den.
The awards were judged by a panel of industry experts and leaders of influential UK businesses, including some of the prize winners from previous years.
Francesca James, founder of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, said: “It was fantastic to hear so many inspiring business stories after a difficult few years, and even better to have been able to invite all of our finalists to the in-person ceremony and celebrate together.
“With more than 1,200 attending, the evening was a real snapshot of the UK economy. The winners were thoroughly deserving, overcoming some stiff competition from their fellow finalists, and we look forward to welcoming them into our alumni community and seeing what they do next. It’s always exciting to watch our previous winners go on to achieve amazing things and I don’t expect any less from this year’s award recipients, who we will support all the way.”
