Liverpool city region footcare product manufacturer and innovator Tectores secures fresh cash injection from £11m innovation fund LYVA Labs. Tony McDonough reports

Footcare product manufacturer Tectores has secured £50,000 from the £11m LYVA Labs innovation fund.

Wirral-based Tectores produces PelliTec, a product that helps prevent blisters forming on feet. It was developed by friends Karl Ormond and Lenny Waters who both worked in the building industry.

They found existing foot blister treatments weren’t doing the job and wanted to come up with something that would help prevent blisters in the first place.

PelliTec is a pad that sticks to the inside of footwear rather than on the skin. Its patented gel technology in the pad cushions and moves with the foot to prevent the friction which causes blisters.

It has been shown to reduce the recurrence of foot ulcers in people with diabetes and could help prevent lower limb amputations for thousands of patients each year.

LYVA Labs is Liverpool City region’s  innovation investment company, established with funding from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

This £50,000 will enable Tectores to extend its patent portfolio, complete the development of an insole to reduce callus formation using the same anti-friction technology.

It will also enable it to source more funding to partner with the NHS to undertake a large patient trial in diabetic footcare. In June LBN revealed how the firm was now expanding into India.

Tectores co-director, Peter Broxton, said: “We developed the PelliTec technology alongside podiatrists and initially trialled it with athletes, who found the pad effective at preventing blisters from forming.

“With growing success in the sports market, we would love to see our products used by people with diabetes, where the benefits could be life-changing and long-term.

“Funding from LYVA Labs allows us time to generate further evidence that can prove the benefits to people with diabetes and support our products to market sooner.”

READ MORE: Wirral bakery giant halves losses as sales hit £518m

Tectores is also appointing an expert advisor to innovative health and care businesses, John Grumitt, to its board.

Akshay Bhatnagar, head of investment at LYVA Labs, added: “We are delighted to support Peter and the team to generate more evidence for the use of the pad in diabetic footcare and introduce the insole into this market.

“There are more than 5m people with diabetes in the UK who could benefit from using products which include PelliTec technology.”