Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant for jabs cooler

Image copyright Sure Chill Company

Image caption The firm said the cash will help it trial a small version its refrigerator technology

A firm that has developed a new way to keep vaccines cool in remote parts of the world has had a £830,000 ($1.4m) grant from Bill Gates' foundation.

It is the second grant to the Sure Chill Company in Tywyn, Gwynedd, to develop a cooler for use in the developing world.

The firm said the money from the billionaire philanthropist's foundation will allow field trials within a year.

Gates' foundation aims to back innovation in ways to deliver vaccines.

Refrigerators based on the technology developed by the firm are used in Haiti, South Sudan, Niger and Sierra Leone, where there is no reliable power supply.

The UN Children's Fund (Unicef) has ordered 220 refrigerators which can keep vaccines at the right temperature for up to 10 days without power.

Last year, the Gates foundation gave the firm, formerly True Energy, $100,000 (£67,000) to prove it could develop a portable cooler capable of running for up to 35 days.

Image copyright PA

Image caption Bill Gates' foundation made another grant to the firm last year