The company was founded by researchers at Linköping University and Linnaeus University in Växjö, and is based on research in glass materials and thin-film technology. The result is a transparent, hard, and highly scratch-resistant material for coating mobile phones, touchscreens, and other glass or plastic surfaces. The coating is applied using sputtering technology.
— That LiU Invest is co-investing with our counterpart in Växjö, and that we can combine an investment with a grant from Vinnova, shows that the innovation support system surrounding our Swedish universities is functioning, says Jonas Nilsson, LiU Invest.
In spring 2018, an agreement was made with the founders of HPViCo that the company would receive support and advice, and that an investment would be made upon reaching certain milestones. In practice, this meant extra support from LiU Invest in exchange for equity.
— We have received a lot of help from LiU Innovation. In addition to advice, we have participated in Venture Arena and also Sommarmatchen, where, with the help of matched students, we found new customer contacts. This has been very valuable to us, and I truly recommend other researchers to seek this type of assistance, says Bo Jonson, Professor at Linnaeus University, co-founder and CEO of HPViCo.
— We see ourselves as a catalyst, and thanks to the collaboration with LiU Invest, we gain greater financial strength. It is, of course, especially gratifying to see that the staff are also contributing a substantial part of the capital. This demonstrates commitment and their belief in their company, says Emma Hermansson, CEO of Linnaeus Venture AB.
The investment will be used for marketing, customer meetings, and further development of the coating method, for example, coating plastic. A thin and hard glass layer will be applied to transparent plastic to make it as scratch-resistant as glass.
