Berkshire start-up KYMIRA, supported by entrepreneur group
Henley Business Angels, has secured funding of £121,000 for research and development of its innovative technology for performance enhancing sportswear and wearable devices for the medical and domestic healthcare markets.
Founded by former University of Reading graduate Tim Brownstone in 2013, KYMIRA established a sportswear brand through which it commercialises future medical technologies in the sportswear market, and develops wearable platform technologies including energy harvesting and e-textiles for primary use within the medical and domestic health markets.
Henley Business Angels, which operates from Henley Business School at the University of Reading, is a network of experienced business leaders, successful entrepreneurs and investors. Its members invest in and mentor businesses run by Henley or University of Reading graduates that are also registered on the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS).
Based at the Henley Start-up Business Incubator in Reading, KYMIRA will now use the new capital to build its sportswear range and progress its research into smart wearables to monitor health and further expand internationally, specifically to the US.
Tim Brownstone, founder and CEO KYMIRA, said: "KYMIRA is at a really exciting point in our development. The sportswear side of the business is in position to scale rapidly and we are developing some truly innovative technologies that will power an entire industry, be used in space exploration and one day save lives. With the Henley Business Angels network we were able to find the smart money and expertise that we were looking for straight away."
Jurek Sikorski, founder and director of Henley Business Angels, said: "We are delighted to have several of the Henley Business Angels network participate as new investors in KYMIRA at a time when the company is showing solid growth in performance enhancing sportswear and building an application in wearables that will help identify and monitor chronic health disorders."
To add to the recent success, KYMIRA recently attended the South by South West Accelerator, an annual conference for the film, interactive media, technology and music industries, as the first British company to be selected for the Sports Technology category and won the prestigious award of ‘Best Bootstrapped Company’ securing $4,000 prize money.