Material girl

26 April 2007

Just a year after graduating from design college, Jane ni Dhulchaointigh found herself pitching investors for ₤250,000 to fund a new mouldable plastic. How did she win them over?

Building on a concept created during a post-graduate degree course at the Royal College of Art, Formerol was set up in 2004 by one-time sculptor Jane ni Dhulchaointigh. Its invention, also called Formerol, is a rubber-like material that can be shaped by hand and then hardened, enabling consumers to customise mass-market products - like moulding bicycle handlebars to fit an individual's grip. The company was initially backed by a ₤35,000 grant from NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts), and subsequently received an additional ₤250,000 through an Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) fund managed by Lacomp Plc.

Where did the idea for this new material originate from?

I studied fine art and sculpture in Ireland, and came to London to do an MA in design at the Royal College of Art (RCA). I was researching new design strategies, looking for example at how the world of product design could learn from other industries such as open source software. Product design is quite cumbersome, based on the designer observing the user, interpreting, and trying to incorporate that into the design. But open source software is about providing tools so the user can be creative and actually produce a product for themselves at the end. Formerol is the result of these two things coming together. It's quite a challenge to bring that idea into product design - in other words, how can you exploit the creativity of the user in the design industry?

I came up with the principles for the Formerol material. My idea was to make an adhesive material that could stick to most other materials, so you could build your own plastic onto other items. So if the shape of your bicycle handlebars wasn't right for you, you could mould the new material on top to build the shape you wanted.

It's a great concept - but how did you take it from there to working product?

I started prototyping stuff, and sketching - I made a book to show possible ways that it could be marketed. It was very much about inspiring people about the possibilities. I had a lot of interest from the general public and different manufacturers. The Royal College has an Innovation Centre to help students commercialise projects, and just as I graduated they introduced me to Roger Ashby, who was working as a mentor at the centre. He's very experienced, and is now my business partner. Between us, we went out through the different college networks - including the RCA and Imperial College - and found two scientists in November 2004. They've been working with us for over two years now to develop the technology.

How does Formerol differ from what's already on the market?

Conventional thermoplastic materials can be customised, but the user has to use boiling water or a heat gun. Ours is customisable at room temperature. It's sealed, the user shapes it, and when it's finished, the user exposes it to air to cure it. So it's very uncomplicated for a large section of users - there's no special equipment needed.

There are also a lot of material advantages. It's heat proof up to 250 degrees C, waterproof, and it's really adaptable - and fun. It's all about forming the shape you want it to be.

How did you get the money together to support product development - and how hard was it pitching potential investors?

Initially Roger and I funded it together, but in spring 2005 we got a NESTA grant. That process was very time-consuming but extremely valuable - we spent a lot of time putting plans in place. NESTA is a lot about building companies around your personal values - so you sort out where you want to get to, what you're all about. That's really important if you work with a group of people. One of the best things about NESTA is its amazing network of people across different aspects of business - they were a lot of help on marketing strategy and business strategy in general. We won a grant of ₤35,000, which was really a bridging loan so that we could get the financing we needed.

We spoke with quite a few investors. Lacomp had invested in another company we know, so we pitched them, and they were very positive from the beginning. It was really down to the chemistry - we clicked with the fund manager.

It's quite intimidating to approach investors. I've come from a background in the creative industry, and it's not very usual to be pitching for such a large amount of money a year after you've graduated. But I had other people working with me, and I was very confident about the product - there was already a lot of interest from different manufacturers.

Has that interest converted into customers yet? And what are the biggest challenges you've run into in the sales cycle?

Our sales strategy is a combination of direct sales and licensing, but we're starting with licensing. Our first customers are tool or equipment manufacturers that are developing new ranges of products using our technology. We're looking for other partners like that. This approach really works - they have the resources in place and existing customers who can trial products with us. It's the easiest way to enter the market.

It's a continuous challenge to find the right partners in different sectors. They need to be innovative, ambitious and forward-thinking - but that's not always clear from their products or branding. Some companies can appear traditional, but you find the CEO's really ambitious. On the other hand, others can look really innovative but it doesn't always work out with them.

When we started out, we used to explain the concept and then come up with the ideas for product use. But we've found it's worked best when other people have the ideas and we work on it together. Rather than trying to push ideas on people, it's more about informing as many people as possible about the possibilities and working with them to come up with ideas and solutions.

Finally, what advice would you give other entrepreneurs?

What NESTA drummed into us was, when you're setting up a company, be very clear about the value and purpose of the company and where you want to be five years down the road. That was one of the biggest things for me. There's a lot of creative and design value in our company and a lot of flexibility - we wanted to build a very innovative company, and I wanted to have the freedom to do that.

Jane ni Dhulchaointigh was talking to Keith Rodgers of Webster Buchanan Research