Wearable tech firm Reactec has secured £700,000 of investment to develop equipment that helps keep construction workers safe on site.
Investment syndicate Archangels led the round with support from the Scottish Investment Bank and £103,000 from Reactec’s board, management and staff.
The Edinburgh firm is behind devices that monitor workers for health and safety risks such as ‘white finger’ machinery-inflicted damage. In May it launched its Safe-Distance device to aid physical distancing among workers and 80 firms have taken delivery of 4000 devices as construction sites reopen under Covid-19 restrictions.
Reactec’s wrist worn HAVwear connects with an Internet of Things software platform that helps employers to monitor health and wellbeing.
Reactec chief executive Jacqui McLaughlin said: “Our technology roadmap is all about empowering companies with real life insight to the risks their employees face at work.
“The added ability to help companies and their workers get back to work safely by helping them to maintain a safe distance from each other is another string to our bow and I’m proud of the team that has developed this facility in such a short space of time.
“It has caught the attention of hundreds of companies who are wrestling with the restrictions that are being placed on all of us as a consequence of the Coronavirus crisis.”
Dr Sarah Hardy of Archangels said: “Staying healthy and safe at work has always been Reactec’s goal but now, more than ever before, the company’s ability to harness the latest technology to keep those at work safe at work is hugely valuable.
“Archangels has a strong track record in supporting innovative Scottish companies and we are confident it is those such as Reactec that will succeed by deploying clever technology in new ways to tackle the new issues that we face in a post Covid world.”
Scottish Investment Bank director Kerry Sharp said: “The Reactec team deserves huge credit for its perceptive assessment of the workplace challenges created by Covid-19 and the speed with which it’s adapted its products to address those difficulties. It’s this kind of sharp, innovative thinking that will help reset, restart and recover the economy.
“We believe that with the support of its investors, Reactec will continue to evolve its offering and grow its business, with its ingenuity ultimately being recognised on an international scale.”