Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • June 15, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com FOCUS TECHNOLOGY Hartford startup pitches wearable safety device app By Matthew Broderick Special to the Hartford Business Journal F rom high-tech glasses to smartwatches, wearable technology has become big business. Swedish con- sultant SNS Research esti- mates wearable devices will help wireless carriers alone drive more than $71 billion in addi- tional service revenue by the end of 2020, as developers build applications that track every- thing from health and fitness to messaging and socialization. But one Hartford startup, Wearsafe Labs, is working to create a wearable device with a more important function: per- sonal safety. The company is the brain- child of founders David Benoit and Phill Giancarlo, who saw an opportunity to leverage mobile technology for a higher purpose. "The technology devices [like smartphones] have become such an integral part of our lives," Benoit said. "We wanted to create a product that could help turn your phone into a life- line even if you can't get to it." Their solution — the Wearsafe Tag — is a low-energy, bluetooth device capable of connecting remotely through an app, from up to 165 feet away, to a user's mobile phone to send alerts to their selected network of con- tacts. The tag itself — slightly bigger than a quarter and water- proof — is designed to fit neatly in a pocket or affix inconspicuously to clothing. The company has attracted a strong contingent of advisors, including a former member of U.S. Secret Service, Rich Starpoli, who sees the importance of wearable safety technology. "This product can prevent the unthinkable from happen- ing," Starpoli said. Giancarlo said there are broad potential target markets for his company's product — from corporations to senior citizens — but he sees a sweet spot with college women. The company cited research show - ing nearly one in five college women will be the victim of a sexual assault or abduction dur- ing a four-year course of study. College women were an essential part of the testing phase of the Wearsafe product, which has been in devel- opment for the past three and a half years. "We gave a functional early prototype to 25 female students at Trinity College and asked them to use it for four weeks," Giancarlo said. "Not only did they report that they got comfortable carrying it, but more impor- tantly, they felt safer with it." That's because in addition to sending alert messages to a person's network of contacts, the Wearsafe tag uses a smartphone's GPS function to note the location of the user and audio around them, which is sent — in 60 sec- ond increments — to the network of contacts that the user registers through the Wearsafe app. "A user can set up multiple networks," Benoit said. "If they go to school in Boston, for instance, they could use their network there, or if they're home in Connecticut, they may want a different network." In the event of an emergency, Benoit said, proximity is important. And in the case of a startup, so is money. To date, the com- pany has attracted nearly $1 million from nearly 15 angel investors, Benoit said. Those funds have been used in large part for design, testing and manufacturing of nearly 10,000 units of the Wearsafe Tag that the company expects to launch for sale later this summer. A July crowdfunding Kick- starter campaign is planned to raise additional capital and pro- mote the product, which reflects a growing trend in the wearable technology space. In fact, SNS Research estimates the inves- tors will pour more than $1 bil- lion into wearable technology startups in 2015. Those numbers don't surprise Giancarlo, who understands how big the market opportunity is for companies like his. According to projections by Statista, one of the world's larg- est statistics portals, more than two-thirds of the population in North America is projected to be using smartphones by 2018. That's good news for tech startups like Wearsafe, said Giancarlo, because — as his company pitches its products to would-be institutions like colleg- es and corporations — consum- ers in large numbers already own the most expensive component of the system: the smartphone, which often retails for hundreds of dollars. By comparison, the Wearsafe Tag is expected to cost a fraction of that with a nominal monthly subscription fee available at individual and family pricing. "It comes out to between 10-20 cents a day to afford our safety technology," Giancarlo said. While both founders know it'll take time before their com- pany generates revenue, they are bullish on its future. While their social media and crowdsourcing campaigns will be national in scope, Giancarlo said their immediate sales focus will be the college-dense New England region. He said within five years, his com- pany projects to have more than 1 million users. "Our expectation is to generate between $50 million to $100 million in revenue by year five, derived from the sale of our service, various products, and licensing our technology platform to third parties," Giancarlo said. For both founders, it's not simply about sales and revenue. "It's very emotional for us," Giancarlo said, "because our product has redeeming social value." Both he and Benoit are hoping that consumers flock- ing to wearable technologies as fashion accessories will also see the value in their safety too. n Q&A Additive manufacturing reshapes aerospace industry Q&A talks with Caitlin Oswald, additive manufacturing project man- ager at East Hartford jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney, who was named to Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in business in 2015. Q: How do you infuse creativity into your science and technol- ogy work? A: Pratt & Whit- ney's Additive Man- ufacturing Group must keep its eyes out for new and innova- tive ideas constantly. Being creative is not an option — it's a requirement to keep up with the industry. Thankfully, additive manufacturing is exploding with new ideas. The trick is to think unconvention- ally: "How can we bring a new solution to an old problem?" With additive manu- facturing, my team can bring unique design solu- tions that were never before con- sidered because of conventional manufacturing limitations. Q: How does additive manufacturing change the way we think about product development? A: There are various uses of additive manufacturing in devel- opment. Many people consider production engine hardware as the greatest benefit to an engine program, and with additive man- ufacturing we have influenced programs in many ways. Using desktop printers, engineers bring hands-on, demonstration pieces to design reviews; with polymer printers, we create thousands of tools and fixtures for the shop floor; and with metal printers, we save development engines time and money by substituting conven- tional materials with metal addi- tive parts sufficient for the engine environment and conditions. Q: What are some of the ideas you are working on at Pratt? A: Education is a key aspect to any technology, and our addi- tive manufacturing team acts as the hub. We work to spread understanding of the technology throughout the design commu- nity, which sparks ideas in hard- ware owners and designers. We provide courses on how to imple- ment the technology. In addition, our group is a key contributor to the transition-to- production activities. We are using both laser and electron beam melt- ing additive manufacturing tech- nologies to support production of our PW1500G engine by the end of the year. Q: How would you pitch a STEM (sci- ence, technology, engineering, math) career to a high school student? A: A STEM career can be ignited ear- lier than high school. There should be a focus with middle school-aged children, especially girls, to con- sider STEM opportuni- ties. Decisions can be made in middle school that prepare you for a great STEM-focused path. I don't believe in pitching a STEM career; instead, I think it's important to encourage children to explore and discover if they have a passion for STEM. If you focus on things you have a passion for, all of the hard work is worth it. Q: How are the technologi- cal innovations happening today going to impact the aero- space industry in the next 5-10 years? A: Pratt & Whitney pioneered additive manufacturing with plas- tics in the 1980s. Additive manu- facturing with metals is still rela- tively new. Government agencies, universities and industry partners are researching the fundamentals, and I believe it will have the biggest impact on the aerospace industry. In aerospace, it's crucial to not just make quality parts, but understand what is contributing to the quality. If we understand the fundamen- tals — the inputs that create qual- ity — it will be easier to control the output. From there, the industry will expand to more exotic appli- cations, different materials and unusual designs. Q: What can be done to get more women into technology professions? A: My parents were and are tre- mendous supporters of everything I wanted to achieve, even when I wasn't sure what it was yet. They always urged me to do my best, whether it was in dance class, sports and, of course, school. I think parents and mentors are the biggest contributing factors to the field their children aspire to. It's important girls understand CAITLIN OSWALD Additive manufacturing project manager, Pratt & Whitney The Wearsafe device (above) is slightly bigger than a quarter and waterproof to make it consumer friendly. ▶ ▶ ' We wanted to create a product that could help turn your phone into a lifeline even if you can't get to it.' David Benoit, founder, Wearsafe Labs Continued P H O T O S | C O N T R I B U T E D

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