A Reading-based company making sports and recovery clothing with infrared technology woven into the fabric, founded by a University of Reading graduate.
KYMIRA makes smart sportswear, including T-shirts, leggings, shorts, socks and hoodies, with a mineral-based material woven into the fibres. The company says the material takes in light and body heat and gives it back as targeted infrared energy, which it says helps muscles recover and reduces pain and the risk of injury. It calls this "bio-responsive" technology and says its products are certified as medical devices. Its customers have included sports teams and universities, and a five-year study with an international rugby team reported fewer muscle and joint injuries. These are the company's own claims, not independently checked.
The founder and chief executive is Tim Brownstone, a University of Reading graduate who studied animal science. As a junior international sprinter he suffered a knee injury and began researching infrared light for recovery, and that research became KYMIRA, which was established in 2013, according to one source. He built the first versions alongside his studies with a small student loan. He says the company aims to make recovery easy to fit into the routine of any athlete, whether professional or enthusiast, and that the technology might later reach the wider public through medical uses. In his words, "the goal is that one day our technologies are saving lives".
KYMIRA is based in Reading, Berkshire. In 2022 it moved back to the University of Reading's Whiteknights campus, which its founder described as a return to the place where the idea started. The company has been named official recovery partner of Reading Football Club. It has also sold to teams in the United States, and says it plans further expansion there, but its home and design base is in Berkshire. We did not find a headcount, so we cannot say how large the UK team is.
On culture, we found only what the founder has said. He talks about science-led product design and a close link with the university, and the company describes a plan to move from sport into medical settings, which suggests a team that mixes textile specialists, scientists and sports people. The business has been recognised through national scale-up awards for its chief executive, according to local business magazine reports. We found no staff surveys or first-party culture pages.
Jobs in a company like this include materials scientists and textile engineers, product designers and garment technologists, sports scientists who run trials with teams, regulatory staff who deal with medical-device rules, sales and partnership managers for clubs and retailers, and marketing and customer service teams. If you enjoy science, sport and design together, this is the kind of company where those subjects meet. Check its website for what the team needs now.
Website: www.kymirasport.com
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