PurThread Technologies partners with textile company Burlington

PurThread Technologies has inked a deal that calls for its antimicrobial yarns to be incorporated into several lines of fabric produced by global textile company Burlington.

The partnership announced Wednesday also calls for Cary-based PurThread and Burlington, which is headquartered in Greensboro, to work together jointly on product development. They also plan to collaborate on efficacy tests aiming to further demonstrate the anti-microbial and anti-odor properties of fabrics made with PurThread yarns in real-world settings, said PurThread CEO Lisa Grimes.

“Following rigorous testing, PurThread’s embedded antimicrobial is found to be extremely effective and durable, and we look forward to introducing PurThread’s benefits in our Burlington brand fabrics,” Jeff Peck, Burlington’s president, said in a prepared statement. Burlington has 4,800 employees worldwide and is part of privately held International Textile Group.

PurThread, which has 10 full-time employees and relies heavily on outsourcing, previously has raised more than $11 million in funding. Grimes declined to disclose PurThread's revenue or how the deal with Burlington is expected to impact it.

For a time PurThread sold products to hospitals, such as lab coats and scrubs, but last summer the company decided to instead focus exclusively on working with corporate partners that already have established themselves in their particular markets, Grimes said.

By selling its own products, Grimes added, potential partners were concerned that PurThread would also be a competitor.

According to PurThread, a recent study showed that PurThread's yarn kills 99.99 percent of salmonella and other dangerous bacteria within two hours.

This story was originally published February 18, 2015 at 10:21 AM with the headline "PurThread Technologies partners with textile company Burlington."