A Dublin City University (DCU) technology spin-off that raised more than €1 million during the recession from several wealthy investors as well as State-backed schemes is to be wound up.

Several senior bankers, leading figures from the building industry as well as academics had invested in Arann Healthcare, which had developed a new method utilising plasma technology to disinfect surfaces and prevent so-called superbugs.

Arann, which was based at the Guinness Enterprise Centre and latterly at the DCU Innovation Campus, was put into liquidation after a meeting of its shareholders and creditors last week.

The company’s early backers included Michael Stanley, the chief executive of listed building company Cairn Homes. He is listed as a minority shareholder alongside Dan O’Connor, who was executive chairman of AIB at the height of the financial crisis.

Other minority shareholders in Arann include Des O’Shea a non-executive director of Ulster Bank and its deputy chairman. He retired from his role as chief commercial officer of GECapital’s global banking unit.

David Ingram, who was chief executive of Start Mortgages during the boom and now runs a biotech company, is also an investor, along with Niall Corish, who was involved with Mr Ingram in a management consultancy.

AIB Seed Capital Fund was also an investor in Arann Healthcare, along with Enterprise Ireland. The two institutions provided the company with more than €600,000 in funding during the financial crisis as it geared up for launch.

The company was founded by four Phd graduates from DCU. One of them, Arann’s former chief executive Paul Maguire, had previously been involved with another start-up, Lexas IT. Its current directors include Lexas executive Shane Glynn and Stephen Daniels, who is a senior lecturer in DCU.

Mr Daniels could not be reached for comment last night. Martin Coggins, a Sligo-based accountant who was appointed liquidator last week following a meeting of the company, said he did not want to comment.

Arann’s last filed accounts are for 2012. The statements showed it had a €408,000 hole in its balance sheet, although it is common for such early-stage companies to have a deficit funded by shareholders.

Its losses by that stage had climbed to €730,000, although it had managed to raise €480,000 that year.

The accounts, however, made reference to the difficulties in raising cash in a recession.