Bringing copper to life: Henrico-based Cupron’s innovations are redefining copper
The Speaker:
Chris Andrews is chief executive officer of Cupron Performance Additives, a Henrico County8-based leader in health, environment and lifestyle applications leveraging safe, sustainable and effective copper formulations for use in, on and around polymers and liquids.
Andrews is a seasoned executive with 20 years of C-level experience in domestic and international manufacturing and technology companies.
His strengths include developing and executing organic and inorganic growth strategies and profit improvement.
Prior to joining Cupron in 2010, Andrews was CEO of Nanochemonics LLC, COO of Infinity, and CEO of Screening International.
He received a B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College.
Join us for a webinar on December 3 at noon to learn how Henrico-based Cupron is bringing copper to life through innovative, sustainable technologies that protect health and enhance product performance.
Cupron first gained some notoriety in 2010 because of socks.
The company had pioneered a patented process to infuse copper into textiles such as socks, shirts, medical gowns, and sheets, as well as into hard surfaces like countertops.
Its breakthrough moment came when Cupron sent dozens of pairs of its copper-infused socks to Chile. At the time, 33 miners were trapped 2,000 feet underground after a cave-in at the San José copper-gold mine. During the 69 days before their rescue, Cupron’s socks were among the few supplies delivered down a narrow resupply shaft — and remarkably, the miners who wore them avoided foot infections.
That event established Cupron as a leader in copper-based antimicrobial technology — engineering textiles and materials that help prevent microbial growth and support health applications in medical devices and beyond.
Copper has long been valued for its natural antimicrobial properties; bacteria, fungi, and even viruses struggle to survive on copper surfaces or fabrics infused with copper fibers.
Fast-forward to today, and Cupron has been rebranded as Cupron Performance Additives. The company has embraced a mandate far beyond medical devices.
Cupron now serves a broad array of industries in addition to healthcare, offering an expanded portfolio of solutions for all types of industrial and consumer products. These solutions are all designed to manage microbes, supporting Cupron's mission for healthy lives, environments and lifestyles.
Cupron’s journey has been one of adaptability and re-direction, overcoming both expected and unexpected obstacles, such as COVID, while innovating.
Cupron is now poised to disrupt the multi-billion dollar specialty chemical category with its elegant, genuinely sustainable solutions.
During the webinar, Chris Andrews, CEO of Cupron Performance Additives, will provide an overview of the company’s unlikely journey: from helping in the rescue of miners to the global leader in copper-based solutions for products essential to everyday life.. Andrews will explore what the company’s business is today, how it helped develop a new category of materials, and why copper remains the unique and foundational element in all of the company’s solutions.