New technology from startup ventures is transforming the global sports industry. This Startup Series has introduced over 300 startup companies in the sports technology space to a broader audience by allowing Founders of promising new ventures to tell their story and pitch their idea. Feel free to submit your startup’s answers to the below questions or contact us if you know of a startup that should be considered for inclusion in this series.
Company name: See.Sense
Founder(s): Philip and Irene McAleese
Headquarters: Newtownards, Northern Ireland
1. What is your elevator pitch?
See.Sense is a technology and big data company with a passion for cycling. In 2016, we developed See.Sense ICON – the smartest bicycle light on the market. It not only helps keep cyclists safer on the road, it also provides technology to pave the way for the smarter cities.
2. Problem & Solution
One of the main the barriers to cycling is the perception that our roads are too dangerous and uncomfortable. See.Sense ICON is the world’s first daylight visible light that uses built in sensors to keep cyclists more visible on the road – reacting to their situation by shining brighter and faster at roundabouts, road junctions and to approaching car headlights at night.
An optional smartphone connection alerts the rider if someone tries to steal their bike, and sends an SMS to the their nominated contact if they have a crash. While ICON is loved by thousands of cyclists across the world, it also helps city councils to understand and improve their cycling infrastructure by collecting data including the formation of potholes, crash and near miss events.
3. Market – your target market and the overall market
Our goal is to have See.Sense lights on as many bikes as possible. Our largest market is currently road cyclists which includes many cyclists who ride in a club. However the overall market for See.Sense is also be made up of daily commuters, leisure, racing and sportive cyclists.
4. Business Model – how do you make money?
See.Sense makes money through sale of our lights direct to customers through our website at www.seesense.cc, selling direct to more than 50 countries around the world. We are also stocked in a wide range of retail stores in the UK, Ireland, Australia, Mexico and the US, as well as selling on Amazon US and UK. See.Sense is currently operating closed beta trials with a number of cities, who are making use of the crowdsourced data from cyclists to help improve cycling infrastructure for cyclists and for broader smart city purposes, which points to future opportunities for the company in this area.
5. Management Team – with titles
In 2016 See.Sense grew from a team of five to now ten engineers, marketers, designers and data scientists. In 2017 we plan to expand even more.
Philip McAleese – Co Founder and CEO
Irene McAleese – Co Founder and CMO
6. Anything else you want the audience to know about your venture?
Our first product, the See.Sense intelligent bike light, was developed by See.Sense founder Philip McAleese as he was tired of drivers saying ‘sorry mate I didn’t see you’. The patent-pending design uses advanced sensor technology, normally found in a mobile phone to give the light situational awareness. ICON builds on this technology, providing smart phone integration, opening up a world of possibilities for the cyclist.
See.Sense products are designed and manufactured in Northern Ireland.
Cycling is kind and we think businesses should be too. For every set of lights purchased, we plant a tree through the tree planting charity WeForest.
Please sign up to our newsletter at www.seesense.cc to keep up to speed with the latest product news and special offers.