It was founded in 2005 as a spin-off of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH).
For the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that began in April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, HeiQ, TWE Group and Beyond Surface Technologies jointly developed an oil-absorbing, water-repelling, nonwoven fabric, in the name Oilguard [1][2] for oil relief efforts.
[3] The product was intended for beach protection against oil spills and was applied to the shoreline.
[6][7] The water-repelling property of Oilguard is achieved with a textile finishing that creates the Lotus Effect on the surface of the non-woven fabric.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, HeiQ announced the launch of an "antiviral and antimicrobial textile treatment that was tested effective against coronavirus".