Sunu, the Boston startup that makes a sonar-powered smart wristband that helps blind and visually impaired people improve their mobility, has come a long way since its Indiegogo days back in 2015.
The startup has since graduated from Y Combinator (2017), secured a patent for its wearable device and sold to customers in about 50 countries. Sunu also has a distribution market in about 30 countries through partnerships with organizations for the blind.
Now, Sunu is a semi-finalist on "Meet the Drapers," the startup pitch TV show featuring Silicon Valley investor family Bill, Tim and Jessica Draper. CEO Marco Trujillo and CTO Fernando Albertorio first pitched to the Drapers in March. They'll appear on the show again on Saturday to compete for the opportunity to advance and score additional investment. The episode will be live online in several weeks.
It's an especially opportune time for Sunu's technology to be getting more visibility. Sunu's flagship product is the Sunu band, a smart wristband that uses a mix of sonar technology and gentle vibration to let users know the presence of obstacles on their path. Users can set the band to alert them when something or someone comes within up to 16 feet of them.
"A Sunu band doesn't care if it's a human or a lightpost. It just tells that something is nearby you," said Albertorio, who is legally blind and wears a Sunu band himself. "I use it when I go to the supermarket, or if I go out to Target or something. I'm using it to be in the line, to keep my distance in line or on the sidewalk."
In the age of Covid-19, keeping that distance is especially necessary. The Sunu band is able to accomplish something that canes and guide dogs cannot: The device inherently enables social distancing. Even as states reopen, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's official guidelines recommend that people stay a minimum of 6 feet apart from each other and wear masks.
Albertorio said that even amid the pandemic, well-intentioned people are still grabbing blind and visually impaired people to try to help them—a clear violation of Covid-19 guidelines as well as the dignity of the blind person in question.
"Whenever you find someone who is blind or low-vision, especially with our new normal, everyone is trying to be helpful," Albertorio said. "But a lot of what's happening is people wanting to be helpful are grabbing folks who are blind, leading them different directions. That's a big risk, and with Covid, that's a huge risk."
In concert with competing on "Meet the Drapers," Sunu has also launched an equity crowdfunding campaign—meaning anyone can invest a small amount of money in the startup—on the Republic platform. So far, the startup has brought in nearly $265,000 through the campaign, 882 percent of its minimum goal.
Sunu also takes donations. But unlike the Republic campaign, these donations are earmarked for specific use cases, including donating Sunu bands to folks who may not be able to afford the $299 price tag.
Sunu has also begun raising money to donate bands to people who have recently lost eyes to rubber bullets during anti-police brutality protests. Police officers frequently deploy rubber bullets as a crowd control tactic; they're intended to be shot at a person's lower extremities or at the ground. But as news reports from the last month consistently show, police have shot rubber bullets—which are actually large, metal or plastic pellets wrapped in a thin rubber coating—at several protesters' eyes, leading to permanent damage.
"When you lose an eye all of a sudden, in less than 24 hours you become blind, that is a huge shock," Albertorio said. "I'm looking for people to offer free Sunu bands, as well as support and connection to assistive technology. It's not just, 'Here's a piece of assistive tech for you. Good luck.' We want to connect them with community."
