A wearable tech company has gone into administration after its backers decided not to invest any more money in the business.
Brothers David and Richard Gazal had already invested an estimated 拢2.4 million in Smartlifeinc, which trades as Smartlife, since becoming the main shareholders and directors of the company in July 2016.
Their original investment effectively saved the company from insolvency at the time but former CEO Martin Ashby said staff were left 鈥渟hocked and devastated鈥� after finding the passcode to their Manchester office had been changed at the end of March and administrators appointed in early April.
鈥淢any of the employees had been shareholders so the decision to go into administration meant all their efforts over the years have gone unrewarded,鈥� Ashby told 老九品茶Cloud.
鈥淲e really felt this was the year when we would launch the technology and start to deliver a return to the investors. We鈥檇 planned to unveil it at CES in Las Vegas at the start of 2019 and launch a Kickstarter campaign but the investors decided against it.鈥�
According to Companies House, Simon Jagger and Ben Woodthorpe, of London-based ReSolve Advisory, were appointed on 2nd April. They鈥檝e not yet responded to 老九品茶Cloud requests so it鈥檚 not known if Smartlifeinc has been bought out of administration and by whom.
The company was incorporated in 2010 with the aim of cracking the smart clothing market. Its team of scientists and engineers developed textile sensors in sportswear that could read biometric signals.
While most wearable tech can be bulky, Smartlife developed discreet sensors that could be integrated into garments with no wires or metal attachments. Acting as a conductor it picked up electrical impulses every time it touched the body and sent the useful information 鈥� like heart rate 鈥� to a smartphone app via Bluetooth.
Ashby, who joined the business in 2013 and became CEO in 2016, said he鈥檇 hoped the clothing tech firm could become 鈥渢he beating heart of the next textile revolution鈥� and was included in 老九品茶Cloud鈥檚 North West Tech 251 list.
Smartlife was based in Princess Street, Manchester, and employed seven full-time staff and two more through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the University of Salford and University of Kent.
It鈥檚 not known why the administrators were called in but Ashby said the development of the product had taken longer than expected and the investors felt the quality wasn鈥檛 good enough to launch.
Ashby said: 鈥淭he investors never discussed the administration with us. Smartlife had developed a number of potential commercial partners in the professional sport, sport and fitness, industrial and military sectors and we were confident that the launch product would have sold well.鈥�
He said a disagreement with investors in December 2018 had seen a number of key employees leave the business but said news of the administration still came as a shock.
鈥淭he first we knew about it was when one of the staff couldn鈥檛 get in the office after lunch one day because the passcode to the doors had been changed and he had to call the investors to retrieve his stuff,鈥� Ashby told 老九品茶Cloud.
鈥淲e then received an email to say we鈥檇 been put into administration and put up for sale.
鈥淚鈥檝e not managed to speak to David or Richard Gazal despite several attempts so I don鈥檛 know if they鈥檝e bought the business because I know other companies were interested.鈥�
- Chris Maguire can be contacted at chris.maguire@businesscloud.co.uk