Croda International : Invests in Novel Technology Company Cutitronics

Croda International Plc ('Croda'), the name behind high performance ingredients and technologies that are relied on by industries and consumers everywhere, has today announced their investment in the multi-award winning company Cutitronics, who has developed a novel digital solution to meet the demands of personal care consumers.

In response to growing demand for more personalised skin care treatments, Croda recognised the need to look for new innovative technologies, which has led to their minority shareholding in Cutitronics whose patented handheld device assesses skin health and prepares it for the optimum delivery of the skin care formulation it dispatches.

Established in 2014 as a spin-out company at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland, Cutitronics device, CutiTron™, which is in prototype at present, offers bespoke product application for the specific target area of the skin as it analyses its condition while taking into consideration other aspects such as environmental conditions. In doing so, it also captures a far greater amount of data than ever before that Croda can use for future product development due to the better understanding of consumers' personal care regimes and the factors that influence these.

Croda has an exclusive commercial arrangement with Cutitronics. This relationship is a direct result of Croda's commitment to their open innovation programme with UK universities. This remains a key strategic focus for Croda and the Company is confident of further investment in this area.

Sandra Breene, President of Personal Care & North America at Croda, will join the Cutitronics Board as a part time Non-Executive Officer to share over 25 years of insight into the global personal care market, and to give the team access to Croda's formulation expertise and proven history of bringing innovations to market.

Breene said: 'I am delighted to be personally involved in this partnership, which will not only allow us at Croda to be part of this intelligent application platform, but it will also enable us to utilise the very latest digital technology to gain greater insight of consumer behaviour using the data the device records.

'We have long known that digitalisation will play a key role in our growth strategy, and with this wealth of information, we can continue to develop innovative and sustainable ingredients, provide better formulation support and share our knowledge with our customers as they strive to deliver the next generation of products to satisfy unmet market needs.'

Dr David Heath, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cutitronics said: 'Having validated CutiTron™ both technically and commercially, Croda's support will allow us to bring our technology to market. Their longstanding reputation in delivering innovative solutions to the personal care industry is invaluable to us and we are very excited to be working together with such a responsive and forward looking company.'