Traditional PPE isn't made for everyone. Here's how one startup is fixing it.
While a PhD student in 2013, Beau Wangtrakuldee was working in a lab when her ill-fitting lab coat got caught, causing a vessel to tip over and spill a chemical on her that burned right through the material, causing her serious injury.
'I was out of commission for two weeks,' Wangtrakuldee told Technical.ly. 'It got me questioning because I was following safety instructions, I was doing everything I was supposed to do, and I was still hurt while wearing the protective equipment.'
AmorSui, a sustainable personal protective equipment (PPE) company founded in Philadelphia by Wangtrakuldee in 2018, was created to solve several problems with PPE, not least of which is the fact that it often doesn't fit all body types or protect from lab accidents.
Finding a better lab coat — one that was designed for a smaller-framed woman rather than an average-sized man, made of material that protected the skin — turned out to be a fruitless endeavor. By 2015, when Wangtrakuldee was doing her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, she realized while taking a course on entrepreneurship that the business potential for higher quality, better-fitting lab coats was there.
'I was at lunch with 15 or 20 of my girlfriends who work in the lab, and I shared with them my experience of having an accident in the lab,' she said. 'And every single one of the women at the table could tell me a story similar to mine.'
From chemistry labs to hospital rooms
AmorSui got off the ground in 2018 using crowdfunding to support the creation of chemical and fire-resistant garments that could be worn with lab coats. After raising $15,000 in the first 30 days, Wangtrakuldee found a fashion designer who took her specs and put together a small line of apparel.
Actual lab coats in a range of sizes, made of protective fluid-resistant fabric and other safety features, followed, as did a TechStars global accelerator cohort and more funding, including from AmorSui's first investor, Ben Franklin Technology Partners. Scientists from Penn, Harvard, MIT and other universities made up most of its early customer base.
There weren't plans, initially, to focus on the healthcare industry. And then 2020 hit.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a major flaw in the healthcare industry's reliance on low-quality, disposable PPE and medical supplies: In high-demand situations like a pandemic, they can run out when they're needed most.
'There was a huge need during COVID for PPE manufacturers that could service healthcare,' Wangtrakuldee said. 'We were one of those domestic companies, and so the business moved from just a laboratory focus line into healthcare and sustainability.'
AmorSui's lab coats, for example, last for 100 washes and about two years of regular wear, far longer than a typical, virtually disposable lab coat that lacks its safety features. Not only that, but healthcare systems also found that more sustainable, less disposable PPE ultimately saves money.
'They're switching to our product because it's an opportunity for them to save costs, to become more sustainable, to comply with [decarbonization] law, to reduce waste. It's all those things that they care about,' Wangtrakuldee said.
After the company successfully pivoted into healthcare and sustainable PPE, Wangtrakuldee and her team of 15, now based in New York City, are looking to grow in more digital ways, as they are now in a beta phase of a marketplace for sustainable PPE and medical supplies that includes both AmorSui products and other curated products that fit the mission.
Currently, AmorSui PPE is available in North America, Europe and Australia, with a planned further international expansion, including plans for availability in China in 2027.
'It's been a lot of hard work, a lot of labor of love,' Wangtrakuldee said. 'It's exciting growth, and we need a lot of partners to join us.'
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I think there's going to be a lot happening in Jacksonville, and just excited to play a part of it.
