The bare-footed mad scientist creating supersmart socks

An idea for clever clinging knitting has landed a former muffin man a big European medical deal.

IT WAS EITHER blue cheese or banana blueberry muffins that were the catalyst for Footfalls & Heartbeats – Simon McMaster’s ‘mad scientist’ venture that has already signed a major licensing deal with German medical products company Medi GmbH&Co.KG.

A Kiwi lad who owned and ran cafes for years in the UK, McMaster says the inspiration hit him around 4am while stirring his muffin mix.

“I had been studying chemistry and nanoscience extramurally, and started thinking about my brother who is a rafting guide. He goes from wet and cold to hot and sweaty in a short space of time. I wondered if it would be possible to create clothing that could automatically open and close based on his temperature.

“I couldn’t get the idea out of my head, and spent the next 10 years reading about knitting.” But don’t think granny scarves and baby booties. McMaster was intrigued by the possibilities of smart knitted textiles. Lightweight, able to mould to your body, and with knitted strands of electrically conductive yarn, your socks could do more than just keep your feet warm – they could provide your doctor with useful information about your health.

“I heard Dr Jane Dai speak in Melbourne about the future of sensing and that was it – I wanted to be part of that future. I put my spare time, energy and all my brilliantly supportive partner’s spare cash into developing ideas and prototypes … and finally three years ago I felt ready to look for funding.”

But McMaster didn’t want to ask the Poms for money. Instead, he turned to contacts in New Zealand, which lead to a Skype call with the man who would become his first investor and business mentor, entrepreneur Jeremy Collins.

Collins built the Selecon lighting company and sold it to multinational Philips in 2009.

“He told me he wanted to give me money after a 25-minute Skype call – I went, ‘Really?!’ It was amazing to find someone who instantly ‘got’ what I wanted to create.”

Another funding round in 2013 raised $1.5 million from The Icehouse angel investor network, the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund and a number of private investors. McMaster used the »