Wool Plus Aid Plus Big Investors Equals Expansion

Early on in Lucas Smith’s researching, patenting and manufacturing of merino Wool+Aid bandages, Stuff’s Marta Steeman reports, a local lawyer told him there was no other product in the world like it. But the 21-year-old and his father wanted to check and spent an “eye watering amount” to pay a Texas lawyer to complete a global patent search, which confirmed that.

Wool+Aid makes biodegradable woollen plasters and bandages, and has attracted the big guns of the local investment world like Sir Stephen Tindall and marketing guru Geoff Ross, Steeman reports.

The Tekapo start-up, launched five years ago by the then 21-year-old mountain guide, has drawn $1.5 million in its first capital raising, valuing the company at about $7m.

It had been technically challenging to make a woollen bandage because manufacturers were much more used to using the merino wool for clothing rather than bandages, Steeman writes.

“We came close to blowing up millions of dollars-worth of bandage machines several times,” Smith said.

Original article by Marta Steeman, Stuff, August 2, 2021.