FREDERICTON, NB, June 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Smart Skin Technologies Inc., a global leader in IIoT productivity solutions, raised $10.7 million CAD to accelerate the company's growth in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. Smart Skin supports 18 of the world's 20 largest pharmaceutical companies and nearly every major bottling company in the world with their QuantifeelTM solutions, designed to improve production efficiency, yield and product quality.
BDC Capital's Industrial Innovation Venture Fund led the financing round. Existing investors including SCHOTT AG, Mariner's East Valley Ventures and the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation also participated in the financing.
"Smart Skin's success in deploying their technology and delivering quantifiable return on investment to some of the world's leading corporations is what originally attracted us," said Joe Regan, Managing Partner of the Industrial Innovation Venture Fund at BDC Capital. "We are excited about the opportunity to play a role in accelerating Smart Skin's expansion in this important market," continued Regan. In addition to BDC Capital's investment, Regan will be joining Smart Skin's Board of Directors chaired by Gerry Pond of Mariner.
This is the second time that SCHOTT AG has participated in a Smart Skin financing round. SCHOTT is a global leader in specialty glass products, including billions of vials, syringes, and cartridges for a broad variety of pharmaceutical drugs. About 90% of all approved COVID-19 vaccines rely on SCHOTT vials. Fabian Stocker, VP Global Strategy & Innovation for SCHOTT's pharma business, said, "Smart Skin's solution gives pharma companies a powerful lever to prevent breakage on their filling lines and boost productivity - and it is a great enhancement to our portfolio. We are more than happy to increase our close cooperation with Smart Skin."
Smart Skin founder and CTO Kumaran Thillainadarajah commented, "Building a globally significant business would not have been possible without early-stage investors like East Valley and NBIF, as well as a strong innovation partner like the National Research Council's IRAP program that has allowed us to push the boundaries of what is possible in our product space. We are thrilled to be working with large financial and strategic investors, such as BDC Capital and SCHOTT AG, that want to fuel our mission to make production lines more productive."
The company expects to hire up to 50 new employees in the next year, primarily in Fredericton, New Brunswick, more than doubling its workforce. Manufacturing, engineering & software development roles will be the company's primary hiring focus although several sales, marketing, and field support roles are being established as well.
About Smart Skin Technologies
Smart Skin Technologies, Inc. is based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. The company's patented Quantifeel solutions fuse innovative sensors, deep analytics and artificial intelligence to provide global manufacturers with actionable data on the forces their containers experience during the filling and packaging process. By identifying previously undetectable adverse or abnormal operating conditions, workers are able to better control the process, preventing product defects and costly downtime. Smart Skin's technology is in use on every continent around the world and has earned a strong reputation as a world leader in IIoT productivity solutions across multiple industries. Smart Skin was honoured with the "Best Manufacturing Innovation" at the 2020 PharmaPack Awards in Paris and has garnered back-to-back Supplier of the Year awards as an innovation partner within Coca-Cola's bottling network.
About BDC Capital
BDC Capital is the investment arm of BDC, the bank for Canadian entrepreneurs. With over $3 billion under management, BDC Capital serves as a strategic partner to the country's most innovative firms. It offers businesses a full spectrum of capital, from seed investments to growth equity, supporting Canadian entrepreneurs who have the ambition to stand out on the world stage. Visit bdc.ca/capital.
CONTACT
Smart Skin Technologies
Scott VanWart
scott.vanwart@smartskintech.com
(506) 449-3871
BDC Capital
Media Relations
mediainfo@bdc.ca
1-844-625-8321
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Smart Skin Technologies provides productivity solutions for packaging lines.
