Haverhill Research Park firm CodiKoat awarded £330,000 for development of its latest innovate antiviral product
A firm based at the Haverhill Research Park has been awarded £330,000 to support its development of new antimicrobial reusable food packaging solutions that if successful could be used by supermarkets.
The UK Research and Innovation funding means that CodiKoat, in the EpiCentre, has been successful in all eight grants that it has applied for from Innovate UK in under three years - worth over £2.1m.
The grant will enable CodiKoat to test and deliver new antimicrobial reusable food packaging formats, marketed as “CodiPac”.
CodiPac will introduce CodiKoat’s antimicrobial technology Cydal to the food packaging manufacturing process, a technology which is independently certified to kill 99.99 per cent of viruses, bacteria and fungi on surfaces within seconds.
The aim of the project is to reduce the environmental impact associated with the need for high temperature washing or chemical sterilisation for typical types of reusable food packaging.
CodiKoat will work with supermarkets and consumers to assess the viability of this alternative to single-use packaging.
New CodiKoat CEO Blake Gudgel said, “We are delighted to have been successful in this latest funding application to Innovate UK, who have been an essential partner to the ongoing growth and innovation at CodiKoat.
Andrew Bell, centre manager at The EpiCentre, said: “It gives us great pleasure to see CodiKoat, one of The EpiCentre’s early occupiers, being successful with its grant applications on what are significant innovations.”
The grant forms part of an initiative to reduce the environmental impact of plastic food packaging by the UK’s national innovation agency, Innovate UK.
The first funding application CodiKoat - which was born in response to the Covid-19 pandemic – made to Innovate UK has formed the foundation for many of its later scientific developments.
That technology has been ISO-certified as the fastest antiviral protection of its kind in the world.
Funding has since been received for the development and prototyping of industry-changing products including antiviral air filters, sustainable and reusable cups for events and festivals and antimicrobial face masks.
