About our project
The problem we solve: Hospital-acquired infections are a growing cause of concern — they affect 1 in 25 hospitalized patients in the U.S. on any given day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Soft surfaces like medical uniforms can be germ carriers. Dangerous bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), can spread from sick patients in a hospital to the scrubs of health care workers.
About our solution:
Antimicrobial scrubs to inhibit the growth of bacteria found on the surface of the fabric. These scrubs also have fluid barrier protection to help prevent from blood, urine and other dangerous fluids found in a healthcare environment.LifeThreads garments are engineered to have robust liquid repellency and antimicrobial properties, along with breathability, comfort, and durability.
Progress to
date:Selling to customers, retail partners.
About Our Team
Creator: Karan Jhunjhunwala
Location: New York
Bio: I am the CEO for LifeThreads. Before founding LifeThreads, I served for four years as a senior analyst at Sunrise Capital Partners, a private equity firm that manages global investments in private debt, senior secured lending, technology, health care.
Previously, i worked as a business development associate for Neha Creations, a prominent distributor of diamond jewelry in Mumbai. I began my career as a junior sales associate responsible for equity sales and trading Edelweiss.
Title: CEO
About Team Members
Tyler Mutz
President, Bachelor of Science in industrial distribution and logistics
Biography: Tyler served as an informal advisor to LifeThreads before joining as president in May 2015 and is responsible for managing the company's sales and marketing.
Prior to joining LifeThreads, he served as a territory manager for Coloplast, an international developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices and services.
Title: President
Advanced Degree(s): Bachelor of Science in industrial distribution and logistics
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-mutz-b8ba574
About Our Company
How We Help Patients
90% of the patient contact environment is made up of soft surfaces. Yet, soft surface such as medical scrubs worn by healthcare providers have virtually been ignored in today's infection prevention practices. Antimicrobial and fluid barrier scrubs can provide a better cleaner environment for patients and their families.
LifeThreads textiles are a natural fit for healthcare settings, where patients with compromised ability to fend off pathogens represent a high risk for acquiring infections.
How We Help Physicians
Did you know that antibiotic-resistant bacteria can hitch a ride on your hospital scrubs? Studies have noted that the pockets and sleeves of the nurses' scrubs were the parts of the clothing that were the most likely to be contaminated. These medical uniforms can harbor bacteria for significant periods of time and provide an easy transfer path for infections that is more difficult to sanitize than hands. Providing antimicrobial protection on scrubs, immediately inhibits the growth of bacteria found on them, reducing the chances of cross-contamination and offering a cleaner, safer environment.
Also, physicians are dealing with dangerous and contaminated fluids like blood, urine, chemicals, and vomit in the healthcare environment everyday. Our fabric is engineered to repel fluids. Liquids easily bead up and roll off the garment avoiding the need for instant cleaning or laundering and more importantly, avoiding contact with harmful bodily fluids. Liquid spills can easily be wiped away when blotted with a clean cloth, making your scrubs look clean and fresh each time.
How We Help Hospitals
Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are a growing cause of concern — they affect 1 in 25 hospitalized patients in the U.S. on any given day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The environment in which scrubs are used in healthcare is often ideal for the proliferation and spread of bacteria and viruses. A new study reported at IDWeek2016 confirms that dangerous bacteria in patient rooms can end up on nurses’ scrub uniforms. Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nurses-scrubs-can-harbor-nasty-germs-superbugs/
This study is a good wake-up call that health care providers need to concentrate on the idea that soft surfaces such as scrubs in a health care environment can be contaminated.
Regular scrubs can harbor bacteria for significant periods of time and provide an easy transfer path for infections. It's time for healthcare providers to begin thinking more proactively about providing additional layer of protection. Antimicrobial and fluid barrier protection on medical uniforms immediately inhibits the growth of bacteria found on them and provides protection from dangerous fluids.
Challenge Mission
Market Size
Scrub retailer market size: - 3,000 specialty scrub store locations - Average sales per location $487,568 - 78% of store sales are from scrub tops, bottoms, jackets, lab coats - Therefore, total market opportunity is 3000 x $487568 x 78% = $1,140,909,120
Projected 3 Year Growth
We are disrupting a commodity industry by offering innovation in our style, functionality, fabrication and fit. We are uniquely positioned to gain market share exponentially as the movement takes place of switching to antimicrobial scrubs.
We are online to hit $250,000 in sales this year.
Moving forward
2017 projected revenue : $2,220,000
2018 projected revenue : $7,189,000
2019 projected revenue : $11,266,755
How We Will Make Money
The end users of our product are healthcare professionals such as doctors and nurses. We will target them by a 2 prong distribution approach of selling direct to hospitals for bulk purchases and selling whole sale to specialty retailers across the country both in store and online. In the short run the retail segment will grow quicker while in the long run we see our direct to healthcare institution will pick up. We are targeting gross margins of 48%.
This growth comes from 4 different channels of sales that we are targeting.
1) Retail - We are distributing to specialty retail stores. We sell wholesale to different retailers across the country. Currently we are in about 75 of them.
2) Direct to hospitals - This is where industry is moving towards specially as hospitals mandate the need for wearing antimicrobial scrubs.
3) Commercial laundries : Significant cost savings as shorter dry time and less use of chemicals to wash
4) GPOs - As we growing we targeting to get on preferred vendor lists for GPOS.
About our Competition
Competitors- WearFigs, Strategic Partners, Jaanuu. We offer the highest level of antimicrobial protection needed to reduce bacteria on the garment. First mover advantage, good test results of our products, strong sourcing/manufacturing partners, innovation not only with being antimicrobial but we are the only one that is also anti fungal and we offer all products in extremely soft and innovative fabrications.
Innovation Details
Intellectual Property Summary
We have an exclusive license for use of the technology that we embed in the fabric.
Clinical Information
LifeThreads® products have been tested by nationally recognized scientific research laboratories. Dr. Matthew Hardwick at Resin nova Labs performed the Splatter Fabric Challenge and AATCC TM 100, AATCC TM 147 were performed at independent third-party research facilities. All of the tests performed strongly indicate that LifeThreads antimicrobial textiles are highly effective against important pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus (S aureus), including Methicillin-resistant S aureus (MRSA), and Escherichia coli (E coli). In every test performed, Life Threads antimicrobial textiles reduce bacterial concentrations by > 99.9%.
AATCC Test Method 100
is a quantitative procedure for the comparison and evaluation of the degree of antibacterial activity after a 24 h exposure to the test bacteria on the test fabric. Relative to untreated control textiles
(UTCs; textiles without antimicrobial or fluid barrier chemistries), LifeThreads antimicrobial textiles reduced S aureus by 99.96% and E coli by 99.98%.
AATCC Test Method 147
is a qualitative estimate of antimicrobial activity. This test further allows for detection of a zone of inhibition surrounding
the specimen that determines if the antimicrobial chemistry leaches away from the textile.
LifeThreads® antimicrobial textiles completely abrogate growth of both
S aureus and E coli. Further, no zone of inhibition was seen with LifeThreads antimicrobial textiles indicating that its antimicrobial chemistry does not leach out of the textile.
Splatter Fabric Challenge
is a test designed to recapitulate transmission of pathogens via splatter and test the efficacy of antimicrobial textiles in a more "real world" simulation. A splatter is a bulk transfer of fluids commonly seen in the healthcare environment (i.e. - blood, urine, vomit).
LifeThreads® antimicrobial textiles performed exceedingly well in the Splatter Fabric Challenge reducing MRSA levels with a range between 4.09 and 4.48 log colonyforming units (CFUs). A 4 log reduction is the equivalent of a 99.99% reduction. For perspective, UTCs reduced MRSA with a range between 1.90 and 2.37 log CFUs.
Other pathogens test results
The results below show the effectiveness of other pathogens on Life Threads® antimicrobial textiles.
In each case the fabric was tested against conventional control fabric that does not have antimicrobial characteristics.
Clinical results may vary depending on conditions in the clinical environment.
Findings (% reduction at 24 hours vs. control fabric)
Enterococcus faecailis >99
Staphylococcus aureus >99
Klebsiella pneumoniae >99
Acinetobacter baumannii >99
Enterobacter cloacae >99
Escherichia coli >99
Candida albicans >99
Proteus vulgaris >99
MRSA >99
Regulatory Status
The antimicrobial zinc based agent is approved by EPA and found in common OTT products like anti-dandruff shampoos. Since our product is considered as apparel it is not governed by FDA as its not consumed nor invasive.
How we will use the funds raised
The money will be used for 3 things.
- Inventory
- Adding a sales representive
- Digital marketing
Thank You
A simple Google search reveals in American hospitals alone, HAIs account for an estimated 99,000 deaths each year. It's time for healthcare centers to begin thinking more proactively about providing layers of protection. The fact that about 90% of a patients environment is made up of soft surfaces such as textiles and that is ignored in today’s infection control practices is mind boggling .Healthcare professionals are exposed to bacteria on the job every day. Scrubs can act as breeding grounds for harmful microorganisms. While it's scary to think about the spread of bacteria outside of healthcare facilities, there's an even greater health risk inside healthcare facilities.
Even if we choose to look away from the risk stand point, we still can’t morally justify 1 in 10 people dying each day due to an HAI.
No, we are not trying to solve all issues with infections or save the world by any means, but we know we can make a big difference. Please vote for us and support us in our mission to save lives!
