Labelling

Timestrip, the developer of smart label technology for packaging, is urgently looking to raise funds before it runs out of cash at the end of May.

The firm wants to arrange an equity placing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) because at the end of March 2008 it had only £440,000 in cash. This compares with £1.83m at 30 June 2007, when it announced its most recent results.

Despite the current difficulties, the firm signed a distribution deal with food supplier 3663 earlier this month and a £1.5m three-year rolling deal with United Pet Group, a US supplier of aquatic and other pet products, in January for its Timestrip labels.

These patented disposable smart labels monitor how long packaging has been opened or how long a product has been in use. They can measure elapsed time from minutes up to longer than a year.

Timestrip said it was experiencing "increased repeat sales" from customers and had established a "strong pipeline" of potential contracts, which gave the firm "optimism for the future".

The firm added that it would continue to license manufacturing rights for its Timestrip labels to third parties in local markets.

The iStrip freeze monitor is also gaining wider distribution in the US and Europe and has been adopted by a leading pharmaceutical company in connection with the storage of clinical trial materials.

The iStrip label undergoes an irreversible colour change when exposed to freezing temperatures.