Ligar, a spin-out of Waikato University, has attracted investment from animal product rendering firm Wallace Corp.
Although the exact size of the round was not disclosed, Ligar said in a press release that it is worth “hundreds of thousands” of New Zealand dollars.
The company is commercialising molecularly imprinted polymers which can be used in purification and extraction. The technology can be used in a number of industries looking to either retain valuable materials or remove unwanted substances.
Nigel Slaughter, CEO at Ligar, said: “Wine is a good example. The Australian state of Victoria lost A$100 million in 2009 alone due to smoke taint in wine caused by bushfires. Over the last few years that figure would total close to half a billion dollars, and that’s just one contaminant in one part of the world.”
