FlexEnergy LLC, http://www.flexenergy.com, a central Ohio Startup, is integrating the level of battery technology needed into smart clothing to create connected clothes.
While standard battery technology has grown over the last few decades, the industry around smart clothing is still relatively new. This puts companies such as FlexEnergy in high demand.
For example, the Air Force has taken notice of the company and has signed a patent license agreement through Dayton’s Air Force Research Laboratory.
The company has also won a $100,000 grant from the Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-up Fund to help move this technology forward.
Smart clothes and the tech that empowers them may be a new market, but it is rapidly growing.. The field is projected to be a $5.3 billion market by 2024, which is providing a gigantic incentive to be part of the first wave of new smart clothing tech.
Dr. Suvankar Gengupta, CEO, and President of FlexEnergy said, “Some companies are developing flexible batteries, but ours can go through a standard washer cycle. Our batteries are seamlessly integrated into clothing so you won’t realize that you have a battery in your clothes.”
He reports that the tech used will basically not only digitize clothing but it has a wide range of applications. Medical smart clothing could be used to monitor patients, caregivers could constantly receive updates right from the clothing, be a tremendous potential for the military, and athletes will even be able to use smart clothing to monitor specific muscle movements in training.”