Presenter:
Thane Hunt, Founder and CEO of Hominid X.
Startup:
Hominid X develops transformative assistive grasping devices to help individuals with hand disabilities to gain greater functional independence.
Transcript
[00:00 – 02:45] Thane
There’s probably an object next to you right now. Pick it up, but without squeezing your fingers. It’s impossible.
I’m Thane Hunt, founder and CEO of Hominid X. We build wearable tools that help people to reclaim the use of their hands. Why?
Because there are over 200 million people who can’t use their hands, making everyday tasks difficult or impossible. Physical therapy can help, but often takes years and won’t result in a full recovery. And in the meantime, the adaptive solutions are either specialised to one task or too expensive.
So we designed Fiber, our easy-to-use, adaptive grasping tool that empowers its user with a secure and versatile grip around almost any object. A user can put it on in under 30 seconds and wear it comfortably all day to help them complete any task that requires grip strength. Our design guides the hand into a variety of different grasps, and it does this without any cumbersome motors or batteries. That’s right, our solution is entirely mechanical. There is no other product like it and we’re patent-protected.
Our early testers have held thousands of different objects and the results are clear. People with hand disabilities are riding bicycles, preparing food and getting back to doing what they love.
Let’s take an example, Megan, who loves to bake. Megan suffered a stroke when she was younger and lost the ability to use her left hand. When we met, she was using just one hand for her baking projects. Now with Fiber, she’s using both hands. She’s been able to focus more on her recipes and less on her grasp. She recently opened a bakery and summed up the magic of her experience with Fiber to her followers on TikTok.
[01:34 – 01:42] Megan
Dude, it works! I did it! Easy-peasy. Oh, this makes me so happy! I haven’t been able to do this for years.
[01:42 – 02:39] Thane
Stories like Megan’s are everywhere. Millions of people needed help with grasping and holding and they haven’t been served until now. We sell our products directly to the users or through their occupational therapists.
Since launching Fiber last year, we’ve worked with clinicians and users all across the United States. Once someone wears Fiber, they understand.
We have a strong team. With my background in prosthetics and hardware development, I invented Fiber. My co-founder, Soniya, did the marketing for a $200 million revenue business. And our manufacturing leader, Junior, brings 20 years of experience in scaling new products to mass production.
Try to imagine someone you care about being unable to pick up the phone when you call or giving up on their hobby because they lack the grip strength to do it. With Fiber, we’ve already been able to put the most fulfilling moments of people’s lives back into their own hands.
So visit us online at HominidX.com to purchase Fiber or to schedule a demo. And together, we’ll create a world where no hand is left behind.
Thank you.
