Created with Barclays To Help Accelerate Businesses Tackling Global Issues While Creating Jobs
November 6, 2018 – New York and Troy NY – Vital Vio Inc., the company that has pioneered safe, continuous disinfection with its patented LED germ-killing technology, has been chosen to join with eleven other growth-stage ventures in the 2018 Unreasonable Impact Americas program, created with Barclays to help accelerate businesses tackling global issues while creating jobs.
Unreasonable Impact is an innovative multi-year partnership between Barclays and Unreasonable Group to launch the world’s first international network of programs focused on scaling up entrepreneurial solutions that will help employ thousands worldwide while solving some of our most pressing societal challenges. Participating companies were selected in a rigorous process involving hundreds of world-class companies from across the Americas.
Vital Vio is a healthcare solutions company that has reinvented disinfection with its patented VioSafe® White Light Disinfection® technology powering a range of germ-killing LEDs now on the market for commercial and residential use. Used in combination with traditional intermittent cleaning, Vital Vio’s patented LED technology is proven to safely, effectively and continuously kill bacteria and other harmful organisms including: MRSA, Salmonella, E. coli, C. diff., mold and mildew growing on products and surfaces.
Vital Vio Co-Founder and CEO Colleen Costello, and the other selected entrepreneurs on a mission to generate thousands of future jobs in the emerging green economy, are participating in a two-week intensive program, collaborating with business experts and serial entrepreneurs, including Tom Chi, former head of experience at Google X; Betty Hudson, President at Hudson & Associates and former Chief Communications Officer at National Geographic; and Ted Roosevelt, Chair of Barclays Cleantech Initiative, among other senior leaders from across Barclays.
Costello, who co-founded Vital Vio in 2013 after her grandmother contracted MRSA during a hospital stay, said: “Infection prevention is one of the most vexing and costly global health challenges. We value the insights and collaboration of this committed Unreasonable Impact and Barclays’ team, as we focus on accelerating global adoption of our germ-killing technology. And, we are pleased to join this exciting network of entrepreneurs who share our passion for developing new solutions to improve people’s lives.”
“Through the Unreasonable Impact program, Barclays hopes to create jobs that benefit society and accelerate economic growth,” said Joe McGrath, Global Head of Banking at Barclays. “This is Barclays’ third year sponsoring the Unreasonable Impact program, and we look forward to supporting these entrepreneurs with our resources and mentorship to help them scale their business.”
Daniel Epstein, Founder and CEO of Unreasonable Group, said, “Since launching Unreasonable Impact, we have supported some of the world’s most exciting and impactful ventures to grow faster and create nearly 7,000 new jobs. We’re incredibly excited to bring this new group of ground-breaking ventures into the global portfolio and support them on their journey of delivering high-impact, rapidly scaling solutions to problems the world previously thought were impossible to solve.”
Vital Vio comes to this coalition of problem-solving companies having already commercialized, certified, and patented a variety of products utilizing and embedding its germ-killing technology, and successfully partnered with several leading U.S. based lighting companies to develop a range of bacteria and mold-killing lighting solutions primarily for retail and commercial (medical, athletics, food processing and service, hospitality, education) markets.
“This Unreasonable Impact community will be invaluable as we continue to invest in innovation, develop new technologies, expand markets and partners, and grow our team; so that we can provide our customers with new tools for safe, effective, continuous disinfection,” Costello said.
After two full years of programs, Unreasonable Impact’s community of over 70 ventures currently impacts over 105 million people, operates in over 180 countries, supports nearly 20,000 jobs and has raised a combined $1.3 billion in total financing to date. As the third year commences, Vital Vio will join this notable global network in its shared effort to create thousands of jobs on the frontier of the green economy.
For more information, visit unreasonableimpact.com.
For more information on Vital Vio, visit VitalVio.com
The participating US companies include:
- Astraea: Building the world’s most advanced machine learning platform for Earth-observing satellite data and geospatial information.
- Cambrian Innovation: Providing distributed installations to extract resources like clean energy and clean water from wastewater.
- Evrnu: Recycling cotton garment waste to create premium, renewable fiber for the creation of new clothing.
- Hydrostor: Providing grid-scale electricity storage by storing renewable energy as compressed air.
- Inventys: Building the CO2 marketplace via breakthrough carbon capture technology.
- Kuli Kuli Foods: Improving nutrition and farmer income through delicious moringa superfood products.
- Natel Energy: Enabling climate resilient hydropower while maintaining the health of watershed ecosystems and the communities who surround them.
- Qnergy: Providing renewable, reliable, resilient power through Free-Piston Stirling Engine technology.
- Stony Creek Colors: Using bio-based textile dyes to bring sustainability to farmers while empowering fashion brands with transparency.
- Vital Vio: Reinventing disinfection to safely and continuously kill germs, mold, and fungi with the flip of a light switch through advanced LED technology.
- Zero Mass Water: Making drinking water an unlimited resource with SOURCE, a set of panels that make water from air.
- ZincFive: Delivering nickel-zinc based energy storage and delivery solutions for mission-critical industries.
About Barclays
Barclays is a transatlantic consumer and wholesale bank offering products and services across personal, corporate and investment banking, credit cards and wealth management, with a strong presence in our two home markets of the UK and the US. With over 325 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 40 countries and employs approximately 80,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for customers and clients worldwide. For further information about Barclays, please visit our website www.home.barclays
About Unreasonable Group
Unreasonable’s mission is to drive resources to and break down barriers for entrepreneurs solving key global challenges (i.e. ensuring renewable energy reaches the 1.3 billion people currently without electricity, reimagining the future of healthcare, or addressing the global unemployment crisis). Through running worldwide accelerator programmes, a globally oriented private equity fund, an extensive network of over 300 serial business leaders as mentors, and advanced storytelling and media activities, Unreasonable is designed to exclusively support entrepreneurs positioned to solve society’s toughest problems. For more information about Unreasonable, please visit www.unreasonablegroup.com.
About Unreasonable Impact, created with Barclays
Unreasonable Impact is an innovative multi-year partnership between Barclays and Unreasonable Group to launch the world’s first international network of accelerators focused on scaling up entrepreneurial solutions that will help employ thousands worldwide in the emerging green economy. Since 2016, Unreasonable Impact has hosted programs each year in three distinct markets: the Americas, UK and Europe, and Asia Pacific. To date, the 70-plus ventures that comprise the global cohort operate in over 180 countries, have raised over $1.3bn in funding, have generated over $1.1bn in revenue, and support almost 20,000 jobs.
About Colleen Costello
As the Co-founder and CEO of healthcare solutions company Vital Vio, this innovative entrepreneur introduced White Light Disinfection® technology to combat the pervasive and costly challenge of germs. She has led the growth of the company to include strategic partnerships in healthcare, pharmaceutical, food, emergency service vehicles, home décor, and athletic arenas. VioSafe® LEDs and other antibacterial lights powered by Vital Vio’s patented technology can now be found in venues ranging from athletics training facilities, ambulances, hospitals, and homes. Reinventing disinfection, along with previous clinical research at Mount Sinai and Weill Cornell, has put this biomedical engineer on elite lists including Forbes 30Under30, Goldman Sachs 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs in 2018, and Inc’s 50 Emerging Global Entrepreneurs. Prior to co-founding Vital Vio, her background spanned clinical device research, biomedical engineering, and product development. She holds a degree in Biomedical Engineering, and a focus on Technological Entrepreneurship from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
About Vital Vio
Vital Vio is a healthcare solutions company that has reinvented disinfection, providing facilities managers and home-owners new tools to continuously kill germs indoors with the flip of a light switch. The company’s VioSafe® White Light Disinfection® technology is safe for continuous human exposure. Used in combination with traditional intermittent cleaning in hospitals, homes, public spaces, and workplaces, Vital Vio’s technology multi-tasks to safely, effectively, and continuously kill bacteria and other harmful organisms on indoor surfaces, while also illuminating the room. Vital Vio has been awarded four U.S. Patents for its innovative technologies and products, with numerous additional patents pending. Research has shown that the company’s LED’s and other product offerings dramatically reduce contamination and infection risk for its customers. More information at vyv.tech.
Vital Vio Media inquiries: [email protected]
Customer and Business development inquiries: [email protected]
More information at: Vital Vio
Twitter: @VitalVio
