Member Article

Irish company, Run Angel Ltd., forecasts €3.5 million UK sales by 2020

Run Angel Ltd, the innovative company behind the smallest, loudest personal safety wrist wearable, run angel™ SAFE, projects it will reach €3.5 million in UK sales by 2020. With strong uptake within the US, European and South African markets already; Run Angel Ltd is in a strong position to roll out its products to UK physical stores, strengthening its online and physical presence within the UK.

Capitalising on the growing interest around safety wearables, Run Angel Ltd. husband and wife founders, David and Ellen Caren, spotted a gap in the market for a small and compact wearable device which would attract attention in an emergency such as a personal attack or in the event of injury. The company sought funding and secured a grant of €250,000 from the Irish Government agency Enterprise Ireland. “As many will know when it comes to raising funds for a hardware product, it can be quite testing, so we were thrilled to be listed as an Enterprise Ireland High Potential Start-Up, which helped us launch our business”, commented Ellen Caren.

The funding allowed the company to employ a broad team of specialists, including electronic and product engineers, mobile app developers and acoustic experts, which culminated in the creation of the company’s first product offering, run angel™ SAFE. With a patent pending acoustic sound chamber and tuned electronic circuit design, the safety wearable emits a 120dB high-pitched alarm when activated, making it the loudest wearable of this kind.

“We have spent several years perfecting the design of our product. Making something so small sound loud was no easy feat. From the very early stages of development, our focus needed to be on the audible capability of our wearable, after all, the greater the sound, the greater level of attention one can attract in an emergency situation.” David commented.

run angel™ SAFE also dispatches emergency alerts when activated by SMS and email to a guardian network of family & friends showing the wearer’s location. In addition to this, the companion app, available free on Android and iOS, can be customised to remote trigger the wearable itself or send silent alerts to users’ guardians.

Since its launch in the Irish Embassy in London in March, run angel™ SAFE has gained broad take-up amongst joggers, students and overseas travellers. The company has also attracted the attention of the former U2 boss Paul McGuinness and U2 business adviser Trevor Bowen, who invested in an early €300k round of funding at the end of 2015, which also saw Mr Bowen taking up a seat on the company’s Board of Directors.

With offices in Cork and London, run angel™ SAFE is designed and manufactured in the UK & Ireland. Run Angel Ltd has benefited from ongoing support from Irish government agency Enterprise Ireland through development programmes such as the New Frontiers.

Entrepreneur Development Programme, which rewards innovative start-ups and provides them with a range of benefits, including training and networking opportunities.

Commenting on their ambitions for future growth in the UK, Ellen Caren said, “We believe when it comes to personal safety you cannot afford to compromise on the build, quality and reliability of your product. Ultimately the end user should feel confident that what they are buying stands up to what it says it can do. There should be no short cuts to the finish line when safety is concerned. Being manufactured in the UK allows us to convey this important message not only to our customers, but also to current and future investors.

With run angel™ SAFE you have a product that has universal appeal, and we are looking to grow and expand into the UK market. Our goal is to be recognised as the market leader in connected audible personal safety, not just in the UK, but also globally. The UK is a barometer of success for us and we are excited about our growth prospects.

Through the support and guidance of Enterprise Ireland, we have seen that Ireland and the UK are not only close trade partners but they also contain a number of similarities. Enterprise Ireland has very much been the connecting force between these two countries and has even allowed us to enter other markets through its international presence“.

Niall McEvoy, Manager High Potential Start Ups at Enterprise Ireland, commented: “Innovation is at the core of all great start-up companies and Run Angel has shown since early stage product inception that it has the ability to change the product landscape for audible personal safety. The company now has a great opportunity to become a leading global player in this product category with support from Enterprise Ireland”.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Enterprise Ireland .