HeiQ Materials AG

HeiQ

Company type	Public limited company
Traded as	HeiQ Plc
Industry	Textile Chemicals
Founded	2005
Founder	Carlo Centonze and Dr. Murray Height
Headquarters	HeiQ Materials AG Bad Zurzach, Switzerland; HeiQ Chrisal, Belgium; HeiQ ChemTex Inc, Concord NC, USA; HeiQ RAS, Regensburg, Germany; HeiQ Medica, Spain; HeiQ Taiwan, China; and HeiQ Australia Pty. Ltd, Geelong VIC, Australia; Maia, Portugal; HeiQ Life, Thailand
Revenue	(US$50.4 Million)
Number of employees	(190+ (2021))

HeiQ

HeiQ (German pronunciation: [ˈhaɪkju]) can refer to HeiQ PLC, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market (LSE:HEIQ) (article), but more commonly refers to its subsidiaries HeiQ Materials AG, a Swiss material innovation company that develops technologies that add functionality, comfort, hygiene and sustainability to apparel, home, and medical textiles. HeiQ was founded in 2005 by Carlo Centonze and Dr. Murray Height, as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH).

Products and Technologies

HeiQ specialises in three areas of expertise compromising scientific research, speciality materials manufacturing and consumer ingredient branding to deliver four product categories - functional ingredients, functional materials, finished goods, and support services.

Their product portfolio includes:

Functional Ingredients

• HeiQ Smart Temp - Intelligent Thermoregulation
• HeiQ Viroblock - a patent-pending antiviral and antibacterial agent suited for all kinds of textiles, including face masks, daily clothing and home textiles
• HeiQ Pure - Antimicrobial & odour control – silver-based finish that inhibits bacterial growth on textiles – keeps products smelling fresh
• HeiQ Fresh - Odor & volatile organic compound (VOC) management
• HeiQ Eco Dry - Eco-friendly durable water repellency (DWR)
• HeiQ Real Silk - Short Polymer Fiber technology
• HeiQ Clean Tech - Sustainable polyester dyeing
• HeiQ Metallix - Antiviral copper shield

Functional Materials

• HeiQ Medical Filtration Materials - used for surgical masks or hospital gowns (article)
• Oiguard - oil-absorbing, water-repelling, non-woven fabric for oil relief efforts (article)
• HeiQ XReflex - Radiant Barrier Technology for increased thermal retention (article)

Functional Consumer goods

• Reusable HeiQ Face Masks
• Disposable HeiQ Face Masks
• HeiQ Face Mask covers
• HeiQ Mask bags
• HeiQ Mask replacement filters
• HeiQ Viroblock Jacket
• HeiQ Viroblock gloves
• HeiQ Tube Scarfs
• HeiQ Scarf replacement filters
• Sani:cream with HeiQ Viroblock

Support Services

• Marketing material (hangtags, flyers, stickers, labels, packaging etc…)
• Testing Services
• Regulatory Affairs Services
• Technical Support Services
• Product Development Services

History and Timeline

Origins and Early Years

Carlo Centoze and Murray Height co-founded HeiQ in 2005 after a week of hiking in the Swiss Alps. Inspired by the foul smell of their t-shirts, the pair decided to set up a company that produced material technologies that enable garments to have long-lasting freshness.

Carlo Centoze (CEO of HeiQ) took his master’ degrees in environmental sciences and Forest Engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, and earned an executive MBA at the University of St. Gallen. Whilst his partner Murray Height had a long academic career consisting of receiving a Bachelors in Mathematics and Chemical Engineering at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia; A Masters in Chemical Engineering Practice and a PhD in Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge; And an Executive MBA at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Expansions

After three years of establishment, HeiQ raised CHF 6.4 million from Zurcher Kantonalbank and private investors to acquire their first subsidiary, Tex-A-Tec. Two years later in 2010, in a second round of capital raising, HeiQ gained 30 more investors and incited the help of 2 more financial organisations to build HeiQ Australia and invest in additional technology platforms.

2010 was also the year that HeiQ’s first functional material venture, Oilguard, won the Swiss Technology Award for its ability to allow fabrics to absorb crude oil and expel seawater in ocean oil spill clean-up projects (article).

By 2017, HeiQ doubled in size through a merger acquisition with Chem-Tex Laboratories Inc, USA, which enabled them to have their own manufacturing capabilities for the first time. In the following two years, HeiQ expanded its global footprint with the establishment of HeiQ Portugal, HeiQ Shanghai and HeiQ Taiwan.

Recent Developments

In 2020, HeiQ made the jump to becoming a public limited company listed on the London Stock Exchange Main Market via a reverse takeover of SPAC Auctus Growth plc (article). By which time, HeiQ had already started broadening their scope of work and product applications. HeiQ began venturing into the water treatment, industry laundry, detergent, paint, coating and packaging sectors, and began using HeiQ Viroblock in a number of applications to help provide health and safety solutions during the COVID-19 Pandemic (article). HeiQ played an important role in overcoming the pandemic including developing masks and PPE equipment featuring the antiviral and covid resistant HeiQ Viroblock technology.

Corporate Governance

Corporate DNA

HeiQ work to achieve their purpose of ‘improving lives by innovating the materials that people use every day’, through their operations which are grounded by their mission ‘to pioneer differentiating materials through co-creation’.

Board of Directors

Carlo-Centonze, Co-founder, CEO and Executive Director

Dr. Murray Height, Co-founder and Chief Science Officer

Esther Dale-Kolb, Chairwoman and non-executive director

Xavier Hangartner, CFO and Executive director

Benjamin Bergo, Non-executive Director

Karen Brade, Non-executive Director

Leadership Team

Carlo-Centonze, Co-founder, CEO and Executive Director

Dr. Murray Height, Co-founder and Chief Science Officer

Xavier Hangartner, CFO and Executive director

Hoi Kwan Lam, CMO

Urs H. Toedtli, EVP Medical Devices and Tech Filtration

Dr. Mike Mordente, EVP Textiles

Corporate Structure

HeiQ Group Corporate Structure

				HeiQ PLC
				HeiQ Materials AG (Switzerland)
HeiQ Australia	HeiQ ChemTex (USA)	HeiQ Medica (Spain)	HeiQ Greater China	HeiQ RAS (Germany	HeiQ Chrisal (Belgium)	HeiQ Japan	HeiQ Portugal	HeiQ Life (Hong Kong)	HeiQ Taiwan

Global Footprint

Whilst headquartered in Switzerland, HeiQ operate subsidiaries in Australia, Portugal, China, The US and Taiwan, Spain, Belgium, Brazil, The UK, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand. In total. they run 6 productions sites (HeiQ Materials AG Bad Zurzach, Switzerland; HeiQ Chrisal, Belgium; HeiQ ChemTex Inc, Concord NC, USA; HeiQ RAS, Regensburg, Germany; HeiQ Medica, Spain; HeiQ Taiwan, China; and HeiQ Australia Pty. Ltd, Geelong VIC, Australia) and 7 R&D hubs (Maia, Portugal; Geelong VIC, Australia; HeiQ RAS, Regensburg Germany; HeiQ Chrisal, Belgium; HeiQ Medica, Spain; HeiQ ChemTex, USA; HeiQ Life, Thailand; HeiQ Materials AG Bad Zurzach, Switzerland). However, their total global footprint extends far beyond, with more than 190 employees from over 20 countries in 14 global offices.

Sales per Product Category inn 2020 (in USD'000)

Functional Ingredients - 42’023

Functional Materials - 764

Finished Goods - 7’444

Other third-party revenues - 170

Mergers and Acquisitions

2021 already proves to be a big year for HeiQ as they embark on 3 major acquisition ventures. In April and March alone HeiQ acquired 100% of RAS AG share capital, and 51% of Chrisal N.V., Belgium shares and voting rights (article) (article). Chrisal is an industrial biotechnology company that incorporate the benefits of probiotics and symbiotic into consumer products. Whilst RAS AG are a materials innovation company that drives the development of resource-efficient and sustainable products through antimicrobial, hygiene-enhancing additives to durable antimicrobial coating systems.

Some months later in June, HeiQ continued the quest for expansion by acquiring Life Materials Technologies Limited as a strategic step into the healthcare surface hygiene and bio-based antimicrobials markets (article). Life Materials Technologies position themselves as a materials technology company with a strong portfolio of smart ingredients and formulations with applications in numerous industries, including bio-based antimicrobial additives and treatments.

Partnerships

Since starting in 2005, HeiQ has partnered with over 300 consumer brands and 10 ingredient brands.

Outlined below are some examples of key partnerships and projects that HeiQ have been a part of over the years:

• HeiQ Smart Temp technology was used in Burton’s 2017 collection, Living Lining, to ensure body temperature is regulated throughout any activity.
• Patagonia started working with HeiQ in 2017 on a DWR research project. Since the partners have collaborated on numerous projects including the incorporation of HeiQ Fresh Tech and odour control technology, in Patagonia´s Fall 2019 collection.
• In 2019, HeiQ Fresh AIR was introduced in partnership with IKEA, featured in their GUNRID curtains, to remove unwanted impurities from the air. (article)
• Also in 2019, Speedo launched FastSkin©, a racing suits collection for swimming, incorporating HeiQ´s drag reduction technology that makes the water glide over the fabric. (article)
• Luxury brand, Burberry, launches washable masks in August 2020 fabric face masks with HeiQ Viroblock technology. (article)
• Cornelia James incorporates HeiQ Viroblock in their Isla and Hera gloves.
• In 2020, Outdoor Research launched Outdoor Active Fresh and Outdoor Research Active Temp powered by HeiQ Smart Temp and powered by HeiQ Smart Temp. (article)
• HeiQ became the first to apply antimicrobial technology to the laundry process by using HeiQ Viroblock in partnership with Girbau. (article)
• ICP Industrial Inc entered an exclusive Licence and Chemicals Supply Agreement with HeiQ for worldwide rights to apply HeiQ Viroblock to coatings for printing processes such as commercial print, food, beverage and pharma packaging (article).
• In 2021, Wöllner GmbH signed a partnership deal to deliver an environmentally friendly, non-biocidal microbial management and cleaning solution developed by HeiQ Chrisal (article).
• HeiQ enters a partnership with Alchemie Technology to produce and launch NOVARATM, a digital multifunction finishing solution with significantly lower cost, 50% less chemistry, 50% less energy (article).
• A partnership with Berger Paints India Ltd was established in early 2021 to produce Silk Breathe Easy, an antiviral paint powered by HeiQ Viroblock that destroys infectious viruses and bacteria (article).
• Under the Viroblock technology bracket, HeiQ launches HeiQ Viroblock Permanent, a new innovation that is exclusively used for the fabrication of Nystar’s Meryl® Skinlife Force, a new sustainable, antimicrobial and durable premium fabric (article).

Collaboration Projects

In Academia

In collaboration with their internal product development team, HeiQ engage with researchers at over 20 universities and institutes including The University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, L’École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland (ETH), and Deakin University Australia.

In Sustainability

HeiQ ensures product quality and sustainability by having all their products be OEKOTEX® certified. Being a bluesign® system partner since 2011, they also ensure all products and systems are ZDHC and bluesign® certified as safe and sustainable with all ingredients being cosmetic grade, bio-based and recycled.

Awards and Recognitions

With over 15 years of experience in the textile field, HeiQ has been recognised with more than 18 awards:

• 2005 - Siska-Heuberger Prize

• 2006 - IMD Startup Award

• 2007 - W.A DeVigier Foundation Award

• 2007 - McKinnsey / ETH Venture Prize

• 2008 - KTI Technology Entrepreneur

• 2009 - Finalist E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year

• 2010 - Winner at the Swiss Equity Fair

• 2010 – Swiss Technology Award for Oilguard, an oil-absorbing, water-repelling effect

• 2011 - Winner of the European Environmental Press Award

• 2013 – Swiss Award Nomination for Carlo Centonze, HeiQ Co-founder and CEO

• 2015 - Swiss Top 10 McKinsey Graduate

• 2016 - Swiss Technology Fund Award

• 2017 - Top 30 Swiss Growth Champions

• 2018 - Finalist E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year

• 2019 - Swiss Environmental Award 2019 with Clean Tech for more efficient and ecological textile processing.

• 2020 - Runner-up Swiss Venture Club / Credit Suisse award

• 2020 – Swiss Technology Award as Innovation Leader for HeiQ Viroblock