A Truro doctor has launched an international crowdfunding campaign to bring a groundbreaking innovation in pest control to market.
Dr Toby Bateson, an emergency doctor at Royal Cornwall Hospital, has designed RatMat, which claims to be the world’s first humane electrified rodent repellent flooring.
The local inventor and entrepreneur is aiming to raise £65k through global project fundraising platform Kickstarter to manufacturer the first RatMat order.
RatMat, which uses similar principles to an electric fence, is designed to safely and humanely protect motor vehicles and other valuable property from rodent damage.
The scalable floor device, which gives rodents an unpleasant shock to deter them, was developed with renowned Cornwall-based industrial design consultant, Dufort Associates. It is the brainchild of Dr Bateson after a colleague experienced costly damage to his car engine caused by rats.
After extensive research, six years in design and two years of product testing, Dr Bateson is now ready to make his product available.
Commenting on the invention, founder of Hammer Technologies Ltd, Dr Bateson, said: “I have spent six years researching and developing the RatMat to provide classic and valuable car owners with a cost-effective and long-term solution to costly and inconvenient damage caused by rats and mice.
“I have a prototype and evidence that it works, but now I need help to raise the initial funds to help make this long-term, humane pest control a reality.”
For more information or to pledge to support RatMat, click here.
