Kiwi tech start-up secures major licensing deal — Exporter Magazine

New Zealand smart fabric technology start-up, Footfalls & Heartbeats has signed an exclusive ongoing licensing deal with one of the world’s largest medical compression therapy companies. 

Headquartered in Bayreuth, Germany, Medi GmbH&Co.KG is a leading global player in medical products. Its subsidiary CircAid will initially implement Footfalls & Heartbeats technology into their compression bandaging products. It is anticipated the technology will allow medical practitioners and patients worldwide to more easily and reliably apply accurate compression levels when treating venous ulcers. 

Footfalls & Heartbeats was founded by New Zealand scientist, Simon McMaster, who developed a proprietary process for manufacturing smart fabric. The technology uses micro-scale interactions with the textile to make the fabric itself the sensor, avoiding the need for wires and electronics at the site of sensing.

Smart textiles is a rapidly growing billion dollar market internationally and Footfalls & Heartbeats MD, Roland Toder, says its technology heralds a new era in smart textile applications.

“Our technology can be applied to a wide variety of textiles but for compression bandaging, it enables both practitioner and patient to provide consistency with compression when bandaging venous ulcers, one of the most common problems affecting the aging population globally.”