Xeros Ltd Raises Finance
Xeros Ltd
Environmentally Friendly Washing Firm Raises Finance
'Virtually waterless' technology with potential to revolutionise global laundry market
PRESS RELEASE
Leeds, June 09 2008
Researchers at the University of Leeds have developed a new way of cleaning clothes using less than 2% of the water and energy of a conventional washing machine. This revolutionary technology will provide alternatives to both domestic washing and dry cleaning, heralding the world's first 'virtually waterless' washing system.
Xeros Limited, a spin-out company from the University of Leeds, is commercialising the technology with some of the biggest names in the washing and dry-cleaning industries. The Company has recently secured an investment of just under £500,000 from the University's commercialisation partner, IP Group plc, conditional upon certain milestones being met.
According to Waterwise, a UK NGO focused on decreasing water wastage in the UK, washing machine use has risen by 23% in the past 15 years, up from 3 times a week in 1990 to an average of 4 times a week per household today. The average UK household uses almost 21 litres of water daily on clothes washing, 13% of daily household water consumption. This accounts for approximately 455 million litres of water daily, enough water to fill 145 Olympic size swimming pools.
The Xeros technology, which uses as little as a cup of water in each wash cycle, could also bring benefits to other industrial processes such as wastewater treatment and metal degreasing.
The Xeros process is based on the use of plastic granules (or chips) which are tumbled with the clothes to remove stains. A wide range of tests have been carried out according to worldwide industry protocols to prove the technology performs to the high standards expected in the cleaning industry. These tests show that the process can remove virtually all types of everyday stains as effectively as existing processes whilst leaving clothes as fresh as normal washing. In addition, the clothes emerge from the process almost dry, thus reducing the need for tumble-driers.
Tests are currently underway in the dry-cleaning market with a view to replacing certain solvents that are currently used in dry-cleaning. Some of these solvents are potentially harmful, having been linked with certain types of cancer and some are now facing a ban in various states in the USA. Xeros believes that its new proprietary technology would eradicate the need for these solvents from dry-cleaning thus providing safety and monetary incentives for the dry cleaning industry. Xeros believes that the new technology could be on the UK market as early as 2009.
Professor Stephen Burkinshaw, the inventor of the Xeros technology and a founding Director of Xeros, commented: 'The performance of the Xeros process in cleaning clothes has been quite astonishing. We've shown that it can remove all sorts of everyday stains including coffee and lipstick whilst using a tiny fraction of the water used by conventional washing machines. The investment from IP Group will help us to accelerate the commercialisation of the technology and I look forward to seeing new washing and dry-cleaning machines that use the Xeros technology.'
A typical washing machine uses about 35kg of water for every kg of clothes that are washed (as well as large amounts of energy to heat the water and to dry the clothes afterwards). With environmental concerns becoming increasingly urgent and water becoming an increasingly scarce resource, there is an urgent need to reduce the amount of water and energy used for washing clothes.
Dr Rob Rule, Managing Director of Techtran Ltd, IP Group's Leeds business, and a director of Xeros, said: 'This is one of the most surprising and remarkable technologies I've encountered in recent years. Xeros has the ability to save billions of litres of water per year and, we believe, the potential to revolutionise the global laundry market. '
The potential revenues for machines based on the Xeros technology are considerable. There are more than two million washing machines sold in the UK annually, valuing the UK market alone at around £1bn.
For further information, please contact:
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Xeros Ltd |
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Martin Gregson |
07828 573 827 |
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Rob Rule |
07917 584 354 |
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IP Group Plc |
0845 0742929 |
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Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer |
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Liz Vaughan-Adams (Communications) |
020 7444 0062/07979853802 |
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Financial Dynamics |
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Ben Atwell, Rob Bailhache, John Dineen |
020 7831 3113 |
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The University of Leeds |
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Guy Dixon, University of Leeds Media Relations |
0113 343 4031 |
Notes for Editors
About Xeros
Xeros Ltd was established in Feb 2007 in order to exploit a new patented washing method invented and developed in the School of Design at the University of Leeds. The Company's Founder, Prof Stephen Burkinshaw, is an internationally-recognised expert in the science of textiles and dyeing and has created considerable intellectual property in the area.
The Xeros technology is a fundamental step-change in the textile lifecycle by replacing water in washing and effluent treatment processes with plastic/polymer chips. For example, it can be used during the dyeing of textiles to remove unwanted excess dyes. It can also be used to clean clothes during the life of the garment.
In dry-cleaning, the technology can replace the current cleaning solvent (per-chloroethylene) and results in lower costs from energy, solvents and compulsory regulations arising from solvent distillation processes. In addition, the technology could be used in domestic washing machines, in which the amount of water and energy used for washing would be dramatically reduced. The technology has already been proven in controlled lab experiments in the Company's laboratories in Leeds. It has also been tested in commercial scale dry-cleaning facilities.
The Company has been strengthened by the recent appointment of Martin Gregson as a non-executive Director. Martin has extensive experience in the dry-cleaning and solvents industries, most recently as Technical Director for Johnsons Service Group.
About IP Group
IP Group Plc is an intellectual property (IP) commercialisation company that specialises in commercialising university technology. Founded in 2001, IP Group listed on AIM in October 2003 and moved to the Official List in June 2006. It has made two acquisitions to date - Techtran, a company set up to commercialise university intellectual property under a long term contract with the University of Leeds, in 2005 and Top Technology Ventures, an investment adviser to early stage technology venture capital funds, in 2004.
IP Group has formed long-term partnerships with ten universities - the University of Oxford, King's College London, CNAP/University of York, the University of Leeds, the University of Bristol, the University of Surrey, the University of Southampton, Queen Mary (University of London), the University of Bath and the University of Glasgow.
The Company's portfolio is diverse with exposure to five main sectors - energy & renewables, non therapeutics, therapeutics, IT & communications and chemicals & materials. To date, ten portfolio companies have listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, one on PLUS Markets and there have been two trade sales. IP Group also established three 'Modern-themed' subsidiaries - Modern Biosciences, Modern Water and Modern Waste. Modern Water was the first of these subsidiaries to float on AIM in June 2007.
For more information, please visit our website at www.ipgroupplc.com.
The University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK with more than 30,000 students from 130 countries. With a turnover approaching £450m, Leeds is one of the top ten research universities in the UK, and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. It was placed 80th in the 2007 Times Higher Education world universities league table. The University's vision is to secure a place among the world's top 50 by 2015.
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