'Safe' mobile phone battery firm goes titsup

Exradia Limited, the company selling batteries that protect users from potentially harmful radiation, has gone into liquidation owing thousands of pounds to suppliers.

London-based Exradia Limited, the UK operation of US parent Exradia Inc, was set up in September 2006 to market "Angel" batteries, that apparently contain a radio-emitting circuit intended to disrupt the uniform signal produced by the mobile phone. It's the uniformity of the signal that's believed to cause damage to human tissue.

However, the creditor's report describes the product as "far from complete and... not currently viable".

In 18 months of life Exradia Limited managed to burn through almost £6m, mostly on staff and offices, including £65,000 in staff bonuses in 2007.

The company isn't answering calls, and its website has been suspended. However, Expansys (USA) is still accepting pre-orders for the firm's radiation-protecting battery.

Creditors of the company, who were called into a meeting last week, were told many of the assets have been transferred to the US operation (formerly called the EMX Corporation), which has also taken on two of the management and three staff. This arrangement has left suppliers owed thousands, money they were promised once new funding from the US parent had been obtained.

The company apparently has some stock and merchandise, but the creditor's report says: "In the view of the viability of the product, it is not considered to have any material value."

The transferred staff are remaining in the UK, so it's possible we'll see a new incarnation of the company in coming months, probably pushing the same old snake oil - we'll keep you posted. ®

Bootnote

Interestingly, our mention of the company over Christmas saw its on-site survey reporting that less than 30 per cent of people wanted protecting - down from 82 per cent before the article appeared.