Techblog
Keeping Track of Your Valuables
Innova Technology turned to SPRING Singapore for the early funding needed to bring its loss prevention product to market.
Anyone who has lost a wallet or briefcase will know the feeling of helplessness and loss that comes with being separated from their valuables, not to mention the inconvenience. Credit cards need to be cancelled and replaced, fresh applications need to be made for identification documents, and security breaches need to be plugged if confidential papers are involved.
To address this problem, Jonathan Lim, Managing Director of Innova Technology, and his co-founder, Rick Tan, decided to develop a simple, convenient and highly effective loss prevention device to help people secure their belongings.
The result is PROTAG, which at 3mm thick, is the world's thinnest Bluetooth loss prevention device. By slotting the credit card-sized PROTAG into a wallet or handbag and synching it with a mobile phone, users will receive an alert whenever the item goes beyond the range of a pre-determined distance from the phone.
Getting started
Fresh from their studies and National Service, Mr Lim and Mr Tan knew they would need funding to kick-start their idea. They successfully applied for a YES! Start-ups* grant, which provided $50,000 of funding to help them develop
the PROTAG and refine their business idea.
"While the money was of course critical, the process of applying for the grant and then reporting to SPRING was also a huge factor in moving forward," explains Mr Lim. "We had to meet milestones to get the next tranche of funding, and this process helped us with our planning. Once you have milestones, there's a real push to be on track."
In addition to funding, SPRING also helped to link Innova with potential partners like Singtel. "They give you access to useful contacts through their networks," notes Mr Lim. "It's not like they just throw $50,000 at you and go away. They put in an effort to support your company as it starts up, monitoring your progress and staying updated on how things are going."
Following an initial production run of 1,000 devices, Mr Lim explains that the product was significantly reworked to improve its performance and usability, as well as being rebranded as PROTAG. Working with a regional distribution partner, Innova will launch the new PROTAG at Changi Airport at the end of this year before pushing out to other markets such as Thailand and Indonesia.
Staying ahead
Even while he is getting PROTAG ready for sale, Mr Lim is already setting his sights on pushing ahead with improved versions. "In addition to ensuring that PROTAG gains traction and becomes available regionally, we will continue to enhance it to stay ahead of the competition. For the next version, we aim to make it compatible with Apple's iPhone and increase the battery life, from six days to six months," says Mr Lim.
Innova plans to set up an office in China and hopes to tap SPRING and ACE for support to help it navigate the business environment there. The company is applying for SPRING's Technology Innovation Programme (TIP). "If we get the TIP funding, we will use it to drive the development of our technical office in Singapore. By developing our team here, we will be able to move ahead with product development and upgrades."
Recently, Innova won $589,000 in funding from technology incubator Red Dot Ventures. The funding will allow it to
expand its business in Asia as well as in America and Europe.
"We need to run faster than the competition to make sure that we stay ahead!" adds Mr Lim.
A good business idea is key to the success of any new venture, but having the right support and structures in place are also critical ingredients to take a start-up from concept to reality. To find out how the ACE Start-ups Grant can help you kick-start your business idea, visit www.ace.sg.
*The YES! Start-ups has been replaced with the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) Start-ups scheme from 1 Feb 2012.
Reproduced with permission from SPRINGnews November 2012 Issue. Published by SPRING Singapore.