Business Spotlight: Kaydiar

Based in Swansea, Kaydiar specialises in offloading technology to relieve pain for pressure lesions for diabetes patients or those suffering with sports-related injuries.

Kaydiar joined GlobalWelsh’s Business membership programme in 2022. We spoke with co-founder David Barton to understand more about the severity of foot related injuries and to see how their technology could be a game changer in the podiatry market…

Tell us about Kaydiar?

Kaydiar is a medical device company specialising in anti-pressure technology for pressure induced wounds, lesions and muscle skeletal injuries.

Our first line of products is aimed at diabetic foot and pressure induced lesions of the foot due to our backgrounds in custom orthotics, offloading orthotics and the general wound care and podiatry market.

"Working with the NHS has allowed us to hone the research and development. Once we have the go ahead from the trials, we hope to start getting the product to patients."

Where did the idea for Kaydiar come from?

I studied podiatry at Cardiff Metropolitan University between 2014 and 2017 and the idea for Kaydiar began as part of my dissertation. I discovered that diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) affect 10% of diabetes patients with 85% ending in amputation. A devastating complication of this chronic disease. I quickly realised how underdeveloped some of the technology was in this space and I wanted to find a way to help.

I think I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Friends would joke that I would one day open a “foot and mouth” clinic. In Kaydiar I think I’ve really found my passion - improving technology in an undervalued sector that has a positive impact on people’s lives.

Tell us about your products… 

We are an award-winning company, securing multiple grants, awards and collaborations with FTSE 100 companies in the medical sector. Additionally, we currently have two patented products for the treatment and prevention of pressure-induced wounds foot: DiaSole and ZeroSole. Our products are essentially insoles that people can insert into their shoes. We use a unique patented technology that can offload/deflect direct pressure away from any given location of the foot that may have a wound/lesion present. Additionally, both devices can also balance weight distribution across the sole of the foot to further evenly distribute pressure across the foot and increase comfort for patients and users.

Our two products are DiaSole, which we will sell to clinicians on the frontline and will be available to patients on a prescription-basis, and ZeroSole which will be available to consumers to buy over-the-counter (OTC) in well-known OTC pharma chains such as Boots.

We’ve had a lot of support from our corporate collaborators and the NHS who’ve been helping us with our clinical trials of DiaSole. Working with the NHS has allowed us to hone the research and development. Once we have the go ahead from the trials, we hope to start getting the product to patients.

On the consumer side, we have big ambitions to get our ZeroSole product onto shelves with retailers such as Boots, Tesco and Superdrug, and also directly to consumers via our website which will also act as an information hub for all things relating to podiatry.

"Being a business member has meant that we’ve been able to pitch at the Connect to London event and also tap into GlobalWelsh’s community of investors around the world."

How has being a part of the GlobalWelsh community helped you?

Since joining Connect in 2020, GlobalWelsh has helped us hugely on the investment side. In 2021 they supported our initial raise which enabled us to get our products from concept to a marketable product. It was only because of this funding that we were then able to secure a grant which was game-changing for us.

We’re now in a huge phase of growth and have spent most of this year fundraising. Being a business member has meant that we’ve been able to pitch at the Connect to London event and also tap into GlobalWelsh’s community of investors around the world.

Through GlobalWelsh we’ve raised brand awareness as well as two lots of funding which has been instrumental to our success and progression.

It’s such a unique organisation and as we grow and expand, we hope to tap into more of the network and opportunities that are available to members around the world.

"Looking to the near future, we want to move into the orthopaedic sector. We’re thinking that our PROmorph innovation will enable us to branch in to podiatry, orthopaedics, prosthetics, sports protective gear and other products related to the podiatry sector that make lives easier."

What does the future hold for Kaydiar?

The next exciting challenge for us is taking our ZeroSole and DiaSole products to market.

I am also excited to launch our recent innovation PROmorph, which is a composite material for the healthcare and sports sectors. I’d also love to have our own premise and hire some people to help with the research and development of our current and future products.

Looking to the near future, we want to move into the orthopaedic sector. We’re thinking that our PROmorph innovation will enable us to branch in to podiatry, orthopaedics, prosthetics, sports protective gear and other products related to the podiatry sector that make lives easier. We have dreams to become the go to company for offloading care and pressure redistribution!

Connect with David and Kaydiar via Connect >>