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Non-stick chewing gum company receives major funding

Press release issued: 8 February 2006

A University of Bristol spin-out company working on technology which may prevent chewing gum from sticking to pavements, has received major investment to further develop the product.

A University of Bristol spin-out company working on technology which may prevent chewing gum from sticking to pavements, has received major investment to further develop the product.

The funding for Revolymer Ltd has come from two sources – IP2IPO, an intellectual property company that specialises in commercialising university technology and the Sulis Seedcorn Fund which provides support for the early stage commercialisation of research.

Irresponsibly discarded gum that litters pavements costs the UK local governments millions of pounds annually in clean-up costs.  The new polymers developed at Bristol can be incorporated into chewing gum which may prevent the gum from cementing itself to the pavement.

” IP2IPO’s and SULIS’s investment will make product development possible for our first application which is developing new polymers for removable chewing gum.  Revolymer has already established a pipeline of new products based on our proprietary polymers which include application in drug delivery, detergents, surfactants and cosmetic markets” said Roger B Pettman, Chief Executive Officer of Revolymer Ltd.

James Lancaster from the University of Bristol's Research and Enterprise Development Division commented: "Revolymer is a first-rate University of Bristol success story for transforming top-notch research-based discoveries and inventions into viable businesses.    By linking the excellent research by Professor Cosgrove of the University’s School of Chemistry with an experienced business leader, a serially accomplished entrepreneur and solid seedcorn funding, Revolymer will be able to develop new beneficial products whilst stimulating the economy as a newly created business."

Commenting on the announcement, Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive of IP2IPO, an intellectual property (IP) company that specialises in commercialising university technology said: “We are very pleased to be completing IP2IPO’s first investment from Bristol two months after establishing the partnership. Revolymer represents a very exciting investment for IP2IPO with exceptional technology addressing potentially very large markets and backed by a strong management team.”

Jamie Brooke, Investment Director at Quester and Investment Manager of SULIS, added: “Revolymer first came to SULIS’s attention in July last year when the company won Bristol University’s entrepreneur competition.  The company has made extremely rapid progress over the last six months, especially given that it has been self funded until now. Revolymer has excellent future prospects and we look forward to working with the management team to take the company to the next stage of its development, and beyond.” 

Revolymer is the first company to receive funding through Bristol University’s recently announced partnership with IP2IPO.  In addition to the University of Bristol, IP2IPO works with a number of other universities, including the University of Southampton.  Together they are part of the SETsquared Partnership, which also includes the enterprise activities of the Universities of Bath and Surrey.

Revolymer has an exclusive license from the University of Bristol for the polymer technology. The company’s management team will comprise Dr Roger Pettman (founder and Chief Executive Officer), Lieven De Smedt (Chief Business Officer), and Professor Terence Cosgrove (Chief Science Officer).

 

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