International Women’s Day

Today we are excited to be celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD)! 

This year’s theme established by the United Nations, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”, is particularly relevant to our mission at Remarkable and the role disability tech has to play in gender equality. 

Every day, we work to nurture and grow the global disability tech ecosystem empowering the people that it serves. That includes being intentional about working to achieve gender balance across the founders, mentors and speakers we work with, as well as our team.  

Because representation matters. As does who gets to shape the world through technology.

“When women and girls are left out of tech and innovation spaces, it’s no surprise that digital tools fail to meet their needs. But the creation of tech that meets their needs is possible.”

Learn how on UN Women’s website.

So to celebrate this year’s IWD, we’ve asked some of the women in our community to share with us what this year’s theme means to them. Read what they have to say below.

We invite you to amplify their voices and work, and also those of remarkable women, girls, feminine identifying, and non-binary people in your community. 

Headshot of Giselle Mota against a blue background

“Growing up as a young girl with neurodivergence and becoming the woman I am today, my work at the intersection of emerging tech and disability inclusion means that we can influence a future where women and young girls could experience what I would’ve loved to experience: technology that would’ve made me feel safe, empowered, and included” – Giselle Mota, Creator of NFTY Collective.

Headshot of Cheryl Gledhill against a blue background

“The future is inclusive and this means in every way – for people with disabilities and to empower women and girls who have been traditionally underrepresented in technology. All technology is assistive, and we’re working to make sure technology is inclusive and accessible for all.”
Cheryl Gledhill, Director of Product at Culture Amp & Accelerator Alumna

Headshot of Urwah Nawaz against a blue background

“More and more people are building accessible technology with the idea of embracing and celebrating our differences, our individual and shared experiences, and personal expression in product development, because they want to break down digital and physical divides.”
Urwah Nawaz, Co-Founder of Vertere & Launcher Alumna

Headshot of Nidhi Jaisoor against a blue background

“Technology, especially tech used for communication and community, can be the great equalizer for everyone regardless of gender, geography, race, and disability, but only when we incorporate accessibility and equity — the idea that everyone should be able to use and experience that technology in the best possible way, and benefit from it equally.”
Nidhi Jaisoor, Partnerships Manager of Diversability.

Headshot of Sophie Li against a blue background

“To create change, it starts with being brave to take the first step.”
Sophie Li, Co-Founder of Signhow & Launcher Alumna

Headshot of Viv Mullan against a blue background

“The world relies on technology, however, a large amount of the tech and innovation available today isn’t built to be inclusive, accessible or equitable – the theme DigitALL is a call-to-action to fix this. It is a reminder of how grateful I feel to work in a community of people who are driven by a mission to harness the power of tech, innovation and our platforms for advocacy to amplify human potential and work toward this future that is truly inclusive, accessible and equitable for all.”
Viv Mullan, Marketing & Communication Manager of Remarkable 

You can also check out some of the female-led content from our Remarkable community below! 

Inspired by Maya Angelou’s quote: “Do what you know until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better” Launcher Alumna Kelly Schulz has launched a new podcast that brings to the forefront how the uniqueness of being human impacts how we experience the world.

Kelly looks at products, services, retail, digital and experiences that you might not notice as you go about your day.

Want to know how to run an inclusive event? Curious to know more about fundraising for your disability-focused startup?

Molly Levitt, the Director of Remarkable US has recently launched a bi-weekly newsletter called ‘Build Accessible’ that features musings on accessibility, assistive technology & entrepreneurship.

Some of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs, innovations and technologies have been shaped by lived experience of disability but how much do we know about the intersection between innovation and disability?

Remarkable Insights host Viv Mullan, takes us across the globe to speak with disability-tech pioneers who are pushing the boundaries of innovation, business and social norms. We talk tech, we talk disability, we talk to real humans about real change.

We hope you enjoyed this women-focused, written and designed story and have a wonderful International Women’s Day!

2022 Remarkable Highlights

As we approach the end of 2022 we want to take this opportunity to reflect on everything we have achieved this year, and to say we’ve done ‘a lot’ feels like the understatement of the century. 

In the interest of time/space we’ve listed just a few of the amazing highlights from this year:

1. Announced the launch of our Remarkable US program
2.Launched our Remarkable Insights podcast 
3.Hosted the first-ever Disability-Tech Summit in San Francisco
4. Celebrated the completion of our inaugural Launcher Program
5. Hosted our #RA22 virtual Demo Day
6. Released our second Founder Stories Series
7. WELCOMED OUR FIRST RECIPIENTS OF THE JESSICA KING FELLOWSHIP 
8. Appeared at the Disability Royal Commission ‘Vision for Inclusive Australia’
9. Welcomed three new team members
FILIPA ARAÚJO

Head of Startup Ecosystem

LIZA MACLEAN

Head of Technology Implementation

Molly levitt 

Director of Remarkable US

Phew! We might just have a little lie down now! Haha! But on behalf of Cerebral Palsy Alliance, we send a special thanks to our partners icare NSW, Telstra, Vivcourt, SmartJob and TPG Telecom Foundation. 

It’s also important that we thank the community of Remarkable supporters including our startup founders, mentors, coaches, facilitators, friends and the extended Remarkable family!

We would not have been able to achieve everything that we did without this incredible community so from the bottom of our hearts we thank you all.

We are growing!

The idea for Remarkable developed in 2014 after a single design-athon event, that has since evolved into a hub of global programs, fellowships, summits and knowledge exchange, that supports the emerging disability-tech startup sector and the growth of innovation that positively impacts people with disabilities. While we have been around for a little under 7 years, the best is yet to come.

We often say that we are grateful for the advocates and allies who have come before. And we have both a right and a responsibility because of their work. Now we see a strong convergence happening, creating the conditions for rapid change. First, there is a recognition of the rich history of innovation by and with the disability community. Coupled with the fact that starting a company being the cheapest it has ever been, creates conditions for remarkable innovation. Second, there is an emerging market where people with disabilities are recognised for their purchasing power. Choice and control help shape markets. Mixed with this is the rise of diversity, equity and inclusion. This has begun to elevate disability in new ways in the corporate boardrooms of the world. And third, the rise of conscious capital and impact investing is seeing more investments flow into an often under-represented area of the market that is having both impact and profitability.

So Remarkable is growing the team in a deliberate way to help shepherd a really important part of this change. It is helping to create some more capacity across the global programs we are now running and also providing a greater extension of the pathway of support we can offer founders.

Can you help us find our newest team members?

Head of Investment

The Head of Investment role is a newly created hybrid role that will lead the commercialisation and scaling support that focuses on Seed / Series A stage companies in disability, ageing and health related areas. It helps assess the portfolio of companies that Remarkable is supporting, and build their investment readiness.

You’ll be working closely with Pete Horsley, Founder of Remarkable

Digital Campaigns and Engagement Manager

This role is responsible for building our online presence through execution of digital campaigns, brand awareness through creation and implementation of engaging and relevant content and building meaningful relationships between various customer segments and Remarkable.

You’ll be working closely with Viv Mullan, Marketing and Communications Manager

Project Coordinator

The Project Coordinator role is a newly created hybrid role that will deliver a range of high-level services to support members of the Remarkable team to help bring to life the events and programs and to help systematise internal processes and automations.

You’ll be working closely with George Miller, Head of Operations.

We are committed as an equal opportunity employer and will provide adjustments so you can do your best work. If you experience any issues or have any questions please contact Shelley Hensel on 9975 8033 or email hello@remarkable.org

So if you think you could be the remarkable person we need and if you want to make a remarkable impact, then apply today!

Meet our newest team member, Liza Maclean!

We are so excited to welcome Liza Maclean to our team as the new Head of Technology Implementation! 

This role will facilitate collaboration with Remarkable and various departments in CPA including client services, research and other key stakeholders to ensure that people with disability have access to new and innovative technologies.  

We’re thrilled to have Liza’s experience both as an Occupational Therapist and leader in the field of assistive technology as well as her long standing commitment in providing mentoring support to our startups to bring to this new role. 

Get to know more about the amazing person Liza is in our Q&A below!

TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOU AND YOUR BACKGROUND EXPERIENCE.

I am an Occupational therapist with over 25 years of experience working in the health, disability and injury management sectors. I have a background in assistive technology and am passionate about the power of technology to positively impact life for people with disabilities.
I’m also on the board of the Australian Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology Association, the national peak body representing rehabilitation and assistive technology stakeholders and users in Australia.

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO WORK WITH REMARKABLE?

I’ve been connected with Remarkable for several years now, through my previous role as investment manager for the icare/Remarkable partnership, and as a mentor through several programs. I’ve always been impressed with the passion and experience of the Remarkable team, the extensive network of mentors, coaches, investors and startups they have built, and their vision to improve the lives of people with disabilities all over the world.

I’m what they call a Cerebral Palsy Alliance ‘boomerang’ – I’m a returning staff member after a 10 year hiatus in government. My aim in coming back to CPA was to work for a purpose driven organisation whose vision and values aligned with mine. Following 12 months of getting to understand the business again in an acting role as Clinical Governance Manager, I was very excited to take up this opportunity to focus my knowledge, skills and passion in the emerging technology space which is a key priority for the new CPA strategic plan.

WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT STEPPING INTO THE NEW ROLE?

So many things! I’m excited about how we can better support our startups to engage with our clients, families, clinicians and other staff to help test and develop their products and services. I’m excited about helping to facilitate the connections between research, startups and the business to support the evaluation, acceleration and implementation of technology. Most of all I am excited about ensuring that our clients get access to emerging technologies that can enable their participation and potential.

HEADING INTO 2023 COULD YOU SHARE SOME OF THE GOALS THAT YOU’D LIKE TO ACHIEVE IN YOUR NEW ROLE NEXT YEAR?

I’m currently doing a lot of consultation with the business to understand the key needs and priorities for our clients and staff, opportunities for technology solutions to address these, as well as barriers and enablers to technology implementation.

I’m also keen to connect more with our startups to better understand what support they need from the business to be successful at different stages of development.

My goal for next year is to have a clear process for how we engage with startups, evaluate solutions, and how we successfully and sustainably implement them to get the best outcomes for our clients.

WE’D LOVE TO GET TO KNOW YOU A BIT MORE, WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR FREE TIME? IT MIGHT BE THAT YOU’VE GOT A SPECIAL SKILL OR INTEREST TO SHARE?

In my free time I love being active and to be outdoors in nature – walking by the beach or in the bush, ocean swimming, or practicing yoga most days.

My special skill/interest is that I am a yoga teacher – you can find me once a week watching the sunrise with my regular crew of yogis at the Manly Life Saving Club. Longer term I’d love to combine my disability and yoga experience and complete my yoga therapy training, get a therapy dog and spend my semi-retirement years supporting people with disabilities to get the benefits from an adapted yoga practice and playing with my dog all day!

WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN IN YOUR WORK LIFE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO PASS ON TO OUR COMMUNITY?

I always love to quote my good friend and former CPA colleague Neil when feeling a bit overwhelmed with ideas and opportunities and where to start – “How do you eat an elephant?” and the answer is “one bite at a time”. In the startup space, I think that it is vital that businesses are listening to their customers and asking them what they want and need, and co-designing with them so they are focussing on the right bite of the elephant to start!

DO YOU HAVE AN INSPIRING BOOK / PODCAST / QUOTES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE STARTUPS AND OUR COMMUNITY?

I’m a bit of a Brene Brown fangirl. I have read several of her books and also love her podcasts, Dare to Lead and Unlocking Us. These quotes resonate and align with the CPA values of courage and curiosity:

  • “Courage is contagious. A critical mass of brave leaders is the foundation of an intentionally courageous culture. Every time we are brave with our lives, we make the people around us a little braver and our organizations bolder and stronger.”
  • “It wasn’t always a choice; we were born curious. But over time, we learn that curiosity, like vulnerability, can lead to hurt. As a result, we turn to self-protecting—choosing certainty over curiosity, armor over vulnerability, and knowing over learning”

I love that CPA and Remarkable are supporting courage and curiosity by investing in emerging technology and creating an innovative culture not just at CPA, but globally through the +N network. Together we can create a world that is accessible, inclusive and equitable for everyone.

Introducing the Launcher inaugural cohort

Last month, we kicked off our newest program – Launcher, a pre-accelerator for entrepreneurs and teams making a difference in the lives of people with disability. The 22 selected early-stage startups have been taking part in weekly masterclasses and 1-on-1 mentoring sessions and have made great strides in their customer and product development in just 5 weeks. 

Hailing from Australia, North America, Africa, Asia and Europe, the teams have not only been learning from disability and startup founders and experts, but also testing their assumptions directly with customers and supporting one another with feedback and advice.

Launcher is made possible by the support of TPG Telecom Foundation and Cerebral Palsy Alliance, and the dedication of some of our amazing mentors, who time and again, give their time and expertise to support innovation in disability tech. 

You’ll get to hear from and connect with these startups at Launcher’s upcoming Customer Showcase, at 6 pm AEDT on the 1st of December. Register to attend the virtual event and perhaps, you too can make a mark as one of their early customers or supporters.

Now without further ado, we are proud to present the inaugural Launcher cohort!

  • accessilife – is an online marketplace and directory dedicated to helping you find everything you need for accessible living, in one place.
  • Aleph Engineering – produces affordable rehabilitative devices for children using eco-friendly local materials found in Ghana.
  • AtOne – targets anxiety and stress using immersive experiences in virtual reality and meditation to take people into a relaxed space faster and provides data reporting to measure and track mind fitness results.
  • Bugal – is a SaaS ecosystem that guides micro service providers through the process of compliantly getting to market, with powerful operational tools for efficiency, specific educational information for development and access to a market for growth.
  • dentUI – is developing an electric toothbrush designed specifically to help people with neurological conditions, such as Multiple Sclerosis or Parkinson’s Disease, who struggle to, or require help with, brushing their teeth. The solution will eradicate the manoeuvrability and control issues that people currently face whilst brushing their teeth.
  • DollarSign – is a learning platform to improve financial literacy in the Deaf community.
  • Focus Bear – is a habit and productivity app for neurodiverse individuals.
  • FutureTech Association Australia – is inspiring the neurodivergent minds of the future through STEAM (science, tech, engineering. arts & math) learning and social opportunities. 
  • Indii – develops technology to enhance the day-to-day lives of people with disabilities, improving accessibility at home and at work.
A banner of multiple images that depict diverse groups of people with various access needs
  • Lisnen – is an application to assist people with hearing loss to be aware of sounds calling for immediate attention.
  • myDRIVESCHOOL® – is a simulation game to teach people how to drive online.
  • Pluto – is a telehealth platform built for mental health professionals who work with children and young people.
  • PM4L – is a SaaS product developed using universal design principles that helps every student to do well, closing the gap of opportunity for success at school for children with learning disabilities and extra learning needs.
  • RooWalk – is empowering children with impaired mobility by developing an electrically powered walker.
  • Seymour Accessibility – is improving online learning by creating software to identify and assess inaccessible content.
  • SignHow – is a sign language learning tool that helps connect people regardless of their background and knowledge of sign languages. 
  • The Care Co – teaches kids aged 5-12 mental health skills in the classroom and beyond.
  • The Disability Cooperative – connects and powers the disability economy by providing a global marketplace of products and services for people with disability.
  • Thryv Mobility – is on a mission to create a flatter world.
  • Twende – combines the force of VR and social network to create opportunities for children with autism and their families to alleviate the stress of the unknown.
  • URATech – is an innovation centre for yoUR Assistive Technology needs. They provide customised solutions for end users and offer R&D services to partner organisations for hi-tech prototype and product development. 
  • vertere – is providing people with disabilities frictionless access to devices that afford autonomy over their sleep.
  • Virtetic – is creating game-based virtual reality therapeutics for people living with limb loss. 

Find out more and connect with the Launcher 2022 startups below:

First-ever Remarkable Tech Summit

It’s hard to find the words to accurately describe the magic of our first-ever Remarkable Tech Summit, but we are going to give it our best attempt in this blog post.

To make it easier, let’s start with a few questions…

What is the Remarkable Tech Summit? 

From November 2-4, 2022 we welcomed over 90 guests to the first-ever Remarkable Tech Summit in San Francisco.

This event was made possible by Cerebral Palsy Alliance and the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation, and was a gathering of innovators, entrepreneurs, corporate stakeholders, investors, researchers, disability advocates, partners and friends in our ecosystem for a truly Remarkable experience.

This two-day summit was jam-packed with panels, guest speakers and group discussions designed to connect, celebrate and grow the emerging Disability Tech ecosystem.

A man with fair skin and dark hair is seated at a table smiling and wearing a light blue collared shirt and purple lanyard around his neck.
Man with dark brown hair and wearing a long black shirt is standing holding a Mac laptop and talking to a man seated at a table wearing dark glasses, a light blue collared shirt and a purple lanyard around his neck.
A woman wearing a black pant suit and a man wearing a checkered business jacket and dark jeans are seated on wooden chairs presenting a talk on a stage. Behind them is a pink screen that includes the text 'Fireside chat with Regina Kline and Jim Sorenson'
Ariel view photo of an outdoor terrace that has people seated around several tables eating lunch on a sunny day.
Two men are standing and talking to each other in front of a stall that is promoting an affordable wheelchair product called 'Participant Assistive Products'.

What was the goal of the Summit? 

The goal of the Summit was to amplify the voices of disabled innovators, create connections, explore challenges, set commitments, and actively support one another to drive change. It was incredible to see the joint commitment from our guests to these goals, which we are proud to say we reached by the end of our two days together.

Below are a few powerful quotes from our speakers that capture this energy.

Person with fair skin and short blonde hair wearing red lipstick

“Humans are the most important technology we can invest in…when we talk about investing in tech, we’re investing in humanity.”

Minnie Baragwanath, Chief Possibility Officer, Global Center of Possibility
Person with fair skin and short brown hair wearing glasses

“What the Remarkable Tech Summit did was offer another dimension to the very notion of the burgeoning Disability Economy. They have shown the poetry and prose of this economy are more than just about great ideas, innovative tech, or even the potential of the capital markets, but the idea that the congregation of this community’s impact can profoundly affect society and may have a broader appeal than one can imagine…”

Jonathan Kaufman, President, J Kaufman Consulting
Person wearing a light top with a necklace

“At the summit, I felt truly elevated and acknowledged, and I trust that more of this will only continue. Because what also took shape at the summit was a collective understanding that we still have a lot of work to do — but we’re all up for the challenge to set a precedent for more accessible, more affordable, and more inclusive tech not only for, but with disabled people.”

Katy Gaastra, Founder, Cerebral Palsy Strong & Digital Engagement Manager, CPARF

What were some of the highlights?

In addition to a stellar lineup of speakers, we were also thrilled to be able to celebrate some exciting announcements including:

The Summit included a startup pitch competition, which was an opportunity for selected founders to pitch their idea. We were excited to announce the winner of the judges grand prize of one prestigious shark hat to Parag Gad, CEO and Co-Founder of SpineX.

We launched applications for our 2023 Remarkable Accelerator (#RA23) global program, which will have programs run from Australia and the US!

Our friend, actor and advocate RJ Mitte joined us to celebrate the Remarkable Tech Summit and also shared a message about our accelerator.

We presented our plans* for our 2023 Design-athon, which has been inspired by the winner of this year’s World CP Day challenge called ‘Millions of Reasons’!

*2023 Design-athon plans will be published on our website soon.

What were some of the outcomes?

It was incredible to see a group of disabled and non-disabled leaders from across the world, come together – many meeting for the first time. This web of connections will continue to bear fruit in months and years to come. 

A priority of this summit was to ensure that everyone who attended was able to leave with learnings and challenges to help guide and support their work in the Disability Tech space. To ensure this, we hosted group discussions and brainstorms where our guests provided insight into what was still needed in the Disability Tech space. Some of the broad areas that were raised included: 

  • Advancing the employment rate of people with disabilities in leadership roles 
  • Highlighting and eliminating ableism from policy and procedure within all industries 
  • Increasing the investment and capital available to disability-led startups
  • Recognising the role that disabled hackers play everyday in making the world work for them when it hasn’t been designed to account for their needs
  • Building capability and education so that accessibility is built in from the beginning in products and services. 
  • Ensuring that design is being done WITH the community not FOR them. Learn more about this in a powerful blog post by Minnie.
  • The need for the ecosystem builders to create further connections between investors, researchers, corporate allies, founders and the disability sector.

What are the next steps? 

This year’s Summit was the first of what will hopefully be many more where we will convene global leaders who are building the disability tech ecosystem. We are always looking for collaborators, partners, other champions we can work with to keep making progress. We will soon release a report covering some of the challenges of emerging structural areas that need work for the benefit of the ecosystem. If you’d like to stay in touch, please get in contact with us on hello@remarkable.org

Accessercise | 2022 Demo Day Pitch

Presenter:

Ali Jawad, Co-Founder and Director of Accessercise.

Startup:

Accessercise is the first complete fitness app created specifically for people with disability.

Transcript

[00:23 – 03:26] Ali Jawad

This is me. Yes, I was a very cute kid and I was born as a double leg amputee, growing up I was an obsessed gym user, which allowed me to achieve international success and compete at four Paralympic Games winning silver in 2016. However, I always wondered why as a disabled person, there is no fitness tool for me to exercise on my own terms. I had to rely on people to guide me Fast forward 17 years and this is evident, with over 70,000 health and fitness apps globally available. None service the disabled market with 81% of disabled people in the UK alone wanting to be more active. But continue to have limited resources. 

This is why at Accessercise we built a purpose made fitness app allowing disabled people to exercise on their own terms without relying on other people. Our solution is an integrated fitness app, which has three key features a unique exercise library with bespoke exercises tailored to the user’s impairment, a social hub where users get to like love, share and comment and support each other, and an explore section that allows users to rate the accessibility of sporting facilities in the local area. This would have been an incredible tool for me growing up as a disabled person. 

Our business model is a standard freemium premium with two major revenue streams and a third coming in future versions with e-commerce. Our go to market strategy covers three main avenues. Firstly, directly to consumers. Secondly, through partnerships with organizations within the fitness and disability industry. And finally working with governments  as part of their disability support packages at government wide level. 

The team behind the vision are all high performing people in the areas of sport, disability, law and business. You have myself, a four time Paralympian with a 17 year sporting career. Sam, a world champion sailor who is heavily involved in projects for the London 2012 Olympics. Yulia, a top lawyer, and Shareen, a former managing director of Barclays Bank in just over a year since launch. 

We’ve already had incredible traction within the industry, with thousands of downloads, an MVP that’s live in the UK market. We’ve been featured live on CNN Global, gained User Economics, which have been proven to be scalable to the masses and even won the Inclusion Startup of the Year award. We’re currently in a funding round seeking £1 million to give us 18 months. Runway to allow us to add more impairments in the app and have 140,000 active users for expansion to America. 

So if you have a disability, please download the app and give us as much feedback as possible. And if you’re an investor, please check out our equity crowdfunding page. So what are you waiting for? Come on the journey with us and help us change access to exercise forever.

DOWNLOAD A WORD VERSION OF THE TRANSCRIPT HERE.  

Follow Accessercise on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Participant | 2022 Demo Day Pitch

Presenter:

Keoke King, CEO and Co-Founder of Participant Assistive Products.

Startup:

Participant Assistive Products is democratizing high-quality assistive products and putting them within reach of unserved people, starting with the 70 million people who need but do not have a wheelchair or the mobility, health, inclusion, and dignity that an appropriate wheelchair can provide.

Transcript

[00:23 – 03:26] Keoke King

So at Participant, we’re democratizing quality assistive products, starting with an all-terrain wheelchair for children.

Meet Karim from Guaymas, Mexico. Until recently, the best mobility that Karim’s family could access was a common baby stroller. It was causing problems in his arms and his posture. Now Karim is user number one for Cub, our award winning tilt and fold all terrain wheelchair. It snuggles into a small car. It loves unpaved roads and it leads the industry in Expandability. So as Karim grows, Cub grows with him. Aline, Karim’s mom, reports he’s more present in their family’s daily life. At school, he can be more together with his classmates. He joins them at the table. And because he can sit up longer, he’s more integrated into family meals and daily activities. She says everything has changed a lot. Karim represents the 40 million people in middle income countries who are stuck at home just because they need a wheelchair and don’t have one.

The World Bank projects that this massive group will double over the next 20 years, and rigorous research shows that $1 invested returns nine to society. Without mobility, there is little access to education, work and friendships. The rwa power of this need makes me ask why are they left behind? The industry offers few mid-price options. Manufacturers opt for cheap, low quality products, or they make sophisticated high margin products for markets with deep insurance funding for the 40 million people in the middle, no products that fit their needs or wallets.

Hi, I’m Keoke. CEO of Participant. In my last job, I founded a global wheelchair distributor company and I saw this product gap. To learn more, I called my friend Dave, an occupational therapist and wheelchair user who has trained providers in 20 countries. And I talked with Ryota, who’s the CEO of a wheelchair company in California. He has hundreds of designs and a half million people use his chairs today. Our combined skills and networks were fit for the challenge. And we saw a wave building. New government buyers and expanding NGO procurement. So we set out as co-founders. Fast forward to today. Our global team is eight people, four who use wheelchairs and together we have 115 years of industry experience and we speak ten languages. We offer four wheelchair models and a cushion. Our products are good on rough terrain, transportable, durable and clinically sound.We price attractively and sustainably with a gross margin to fuel growth. Our production capacity is 100,000 units per year and we intend to serve a million users by 2030. That wave that I mentioned is here just as our products are shipping, we may have that rarest of things, timing. Large NGOs are jumping in from the sidelines and several established buyers are switching.

We have strong forecasts in all five of our products with reputable customers and distributors on both the global and national levels. We’re driven by these market signals and the incredible impacts. If you share our vision and values, we’re preparing a Round and I would love to meet you. Help us help Kerim and his 40 million friends who deserve mobility, inclusion and participation.

DOWNLOAD A WORD VERSION OF THE TRANSCRIPT HERE.  

Follow Participant on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

RecoveryVR | 2022 Demo Day Pitch

Presenter:

Christian Doran, CEO and Founder of RecoveryVR.

Startup:

RecoveryVR provides a fun and engaging, medication-free, virtual reality application that motivates more adherence to rehab activities in the home or clinic while also providing measurement data, adherence tracking and unlimited healthcare access using a custom-built telehealth portal.

Transcript

[00:23 – 03:26] Christian Doran

Have you ever had a physio injury? You know how rehab exercise is boring and you really do it. What about if you had a stroke or chronic pain or an injury at work? You had to do 3 hours per day, potentially four years to get back the life that you have right now. 65% of people give up on their rehab and often get worse, or develop other conditions because of it. And I understand why they give up. It’s not just the monotony. There’s travel time, out-of -pocket expense, physical pain, loss of income, anxiety and depression.

Hi my name Christian Doran and at RecoveryVR we help you never give up. RecoveryVR uses virtual reality to deliver gamified rehabilitation that is portable, low cost and always available. But most importantly, it’s fun and rewarding and motivates more reps and time in training that are the key metrics for effective rehabilitation.

We’ve built over 80 therapy apps so far, but from listening to our clients, we’ve unlocked something much bigger. Our remote patient management system allows a clinician to prescribe and track a patient’s exercise from anywhere in the world, plus deliver telehealth sessions, do measured assessments and monitor the improvement or decline of the patient.

Our clients love it, but it has also opened up much larger market opportunities than just motivating rehab. Since launching in early 2022, we’ve sold multi-year licenses in some of Australia’s leading rehab facilities, international universities, clinics and patients homes reaching a revenue of over $100,000. We’ve recently partnered with a provider who is developing a VR telehealth business to service the mining and manufacturing industries using our software.

We are now in talks with a metaverse company in the US to roll out RecoveryVR with insurers in that territory. VR therapy has been shown to deliver up to 20% improvement in motor function compared with conventional therapy. But I think that’s just the beginning. We’re RecoveringVR and working with prominent universities and clinicians to Increase that rate. While our team is full of film producers and game developers that make that therapy addictive and not feel like therapy at all. The Future of RecoveryVR is not only based on physical rehab. Version two of the product will be a VR health platform for a range of conditions, increasing our market potential, but also delivering on our mission of providing low cost access to health care for everyone.

We’re currently raising our seed round of 1.2 million and we already have 250,000. Subscribed will be using the investment to scale marketing, sales and research while also starting a telehealth delivery service of our own. If you are interested in investing or know anyone who might be, I’d love to have a chat. Let’s help people never give up. Thanks.

DOWNLOAD A WORD VERSION OF THE TRANSCRIPT HERE.  

Follow RecoveryVR on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram

Homeable | 2022 Demo Day Pitch

Presenter:

Liam Highmore, Co-Founder and CEO of Homeable.

Startup:

Homeable creates personalised and inclusive smart home solutions to increase independence in the home.

Transcript

[00:22 – 03:26] Liam Highmore

Hi, my name is Liam and I’m a co-founder at Homeable.

What does home mean to you? If you’re anything like me, you love being at home. It’s a place that makes us feel safe and in control. But above all else, it’s a place we should all feel comfortable in, including our friend Jacob.

Now, Jacob uses a wheelchair and lives by himself in his Sydney home. He finds it difficult performing daily tasks like turning on his lights and making it to the front door in time to accept his delivery. Now, Jacob is also unable to reach the cord for his blinds and as a result has been closed permanently, leaving him with no natural light. But did you know smart home technology could help overcome these challenges?

For Jacob and the nine out of ten people living with disability who require some form of assistance with daily tasks, that’s almost 4 million people in Australia alone. Now we’ve found that people are often unsure how smart technology could benefit them, and the industry’s one size fits all approach often results in technology that just isn’t suitable for their needs. We are continuously hearing from occupational therapists that the smart home landscape is incredibly difficult to navigate and no company has managed to make the entire process of creating a smart home truly accessible. That is, until now.

Homeable offers an end-to end smart home service that works like this. Jacob can be referred to us by his O.T. and based on his unique independence goals, we are able to design a solution with Jacob that allows him to open his blinds and unlock the front door using just his voice. And now, when Jacob hears the doorbell, he can use his phone to see and talk to whoever is there. Now we offer Jacob installation and educate him on how to get the most out of the technology. But the relationship doesn’t end there. We offer ongoing support through an annual subscription that is funded by Jacob’s NDIS plan.

Now in the last two months, Homeable secured six wholesale agreements with technology suppliers and smashed our target with over 100 people formally registering interest in our service, including 25 OTs, wanting to know if their clients were interested in us. We also launched our pilot program and are working with Guide Dogs Australia to design and install solutions for their community. We are going to market with our service in September and launching our installer program in 2023, allowing us to truly scale.

We have a passionate and diverse team driven by people with lived experience and have backgrounds covering product management, allied health user experience and technology sales.

We are determined to become the smart home experts for disability and aged care by the end of 2023. But we can’t do this alone. Firstly, we are looking to raise funds mid-next year and would love to start conversations with passionate investors who share our vision. And secondly, if you know any occupational therapists or end users, who would benefit from learning about Homeable, please scan the QR code so that together we can make everyone feel safe, independent and comfortable where it matters most. The home.

DOWNLOAD A WORD VERSION OF THE TRANSCRIPT HERE.  

Follow Homeable on LinkedIn and Instagram