LYVA Labs has completed a £50,000 investment into Tectores Ltd, a Wirral-based healthcare company. Tectores’ patented anti-friction technology, PelliTec®, is currently available in a pad, which is worn inside footwear to prevent blisters. The pad 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 unique innovation investment company, established with £10.5m from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The blister prevention pad is already on the market and LYVA Labs’ investment in Tectores will enable the company to extend its patent portfolio, complete development of an insole to reduce callus formation using the same anti-friction technology, and source more funding to partner with the NHS to undertake a large patient trial in diabetic footcare. The investment also supports Tectores to appoint John Grumitt (an expert advisor to innovative health and care businesses, and investors), to its board.
Akshay Bhatnagar, Head of Investment at LYVA Labs, said:
“We are delighted to support Peter and the team to generate more evidence for use of the pad in diabetic footcare and introduce the insole into this market. There are more than five million people with diabetes in the UK who could benefit from using products which include PelliTec® technology.”
Tectores developed the innovative pad and insole after seeing a gap in the market for the products; for the pad in particular existing offerings help heal blisters but are largely ineffective in stopping them forming in the first place.
The company launched PelliTec® in 2019 after Peter Broxton, now co-director, joined the company. The technology was successfully trialled on athletes, walkers, boxers, and military personnel. The patented pad, which sticks to the inside of footwear, rather than the skin, moves with the foot and prevents the friction that causes blisters.
Tectores Co-Director, Peter Broxton, explains why the company wanted to explore other markets and how LYVA Labs’ investment supports this:
“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.”