O2 presents entrepreneur of the year award to inventor of new rubber-like material
An inventor who has developed a material that on the surface appears to be the next generation of rubber has been given an entrepreneur of the year award. Richard Palmer, CEO of materials technology company d3o Lab won the Arena O2 X entrepreneur of the year award, following his efforts over the past six years to bring his invention to where it is today. Making the award, Simon Devonshire, head of SME marketing at O2, commented, “This year’s finalists have each presented something truly original and all are now celebrating well-earned success. We are honoured to be recognising Richard Palmer for his groundbreaking development and we will be following his career with great interest. Richard is an inspiration to anyone with a dream and the drive to realise it.”
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Palmer invented the material d3o in 2001 and has been working since to bring the material to market as the solution for impact protection. d3o is a material containing ‘intelligent molecules’ which flow freely under normal conditions making the material soft and flexible, but lock together on shock to absorb the energy from an impact. These dual reactive qualities of flexibility and shock absorption have revolutionised the sports industry and is growing to significantly impact upon the personal protection market for tactical and industrial professionals as well.
The entrepreneur heads almost every role at his company – he manages design, sales, branding, operations, IP and technology teams based in Brighton, UK and the USA – and works with international customers including leading innovators in sports apparel such as Spyder and companies such as Damascus Protective Gear. To accelerate their growth, d3o is opening the opportunity for new groups to join current investors in the next round of funding.
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