Based in the Midlands Innovation and Research Centre, Shasta, founded by Ann Marie Durkin, specialises in baby care products. Shasta’s first product, Steri Soother, was the world’s first pre-sterilized baby soother.

Using Innovation Vouchers and accessing the research resources of Athlone Institute of Technology, Shasta is now leading the way in the development of portable baby care sterilisation technologies. Steri Ova, a portable compact baby bottle steriliser, has been developed in collaboration with the Materials Research Institute and the Biosciences Research Institute at AIT.

“The Innovation Vouchers and AIT were fantastic,” says Ann Marie, “they provided the support necessary to bring Steri Ova from concept to reality. I didn’t need a huge amount of development money – with the Innovation Vouchers and AIT, I got the idea into a prototype that I could show potential customers and investors.”

Steri Ova is now patent pending in 140 countries. Nypro in Bray has been contracted to manufacture the product while Shasta is in negotiations with major retailers which could see Steri Ova on the shelves of thousands of retail stores across the world within 12 months.