It’s an idea that literally kept Trevon Bruch up at night.
Now, four years after his startup’s official founding, Safewave Technology, a Northern Kentucky-based wearables company, is celebrating its soft launch this week. The move is the latest in ultimately getting its product into the hands of millions of customers: starting with those who are deaf and hard of hearing.
Safewave’s smart wristband connects via Bluetooth to fire alarms, Ring cameras, security devices, even the Owlet baby sleep monitor — essentially turning any notification or alert into a vibration people can feel on their wrist.
The company's soft launch includes testing its product with individuals and universities in the community. A full commercial launch will follow given there's proven market fit. But Bruch is already thinking big picture. Future product rollouts, which will be tailored to those with dementia, Alzheimer’s and special needs, aim to balloon the company’s total addressable market, already in the multimillions.
“Our goal is a billion-dollar-plus exit,” he told me. “It feels incredible because this was just an idea in my head a few years ago. Actually selling is a whole different ballgame; now people will be spending their hard-earned cash on what we're offering.”
Safewave’s founding story dates back to an evening in 2018 when Bruch was awakened by a fire alarm. Everything ultimately checked out, but it got him thinking, what if? What if he hadn’t heard it and something was seriously wrong? Or what if he was deaf (Bruch is not), what tools would be available?
His initial research yielded very few results, most of which he said seemed ineffective.
In an interview with KY Inno, Bruch said it was Zac Strobl, director of Northern Kentucky University's Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, who encouraged him to pursue the concept for a wristband in 2019.
Users can integrate their wristband with other smart home devices, such as cameras, sensors and door locks, and customize those alerts (controlling either the number of vibrations or the notification strength). Safewave’s product includes an adapter piece but also is compatible with an Apple or Google watch face.
Safewave’s first production run is in process. The band will retail for $250.
“A majority of watches are fitness and health-based, versus focused on safety or home. That's what’s resonated with me,” Bruch said. “I know how it feels to be overlooked or underserved when it comes to certain things, and this is an area that is lacking.”
Safewave was bootstrapped until last year when it raised a $90,000 pre-seed round from Keyhorse Capital, which funds Kentucky companies, and private investors.
Bruch has participated in NKU's Inkubator, a 12-week business accelerator. The NKU team also helped Safewave file for its provisional patents; the wristband includes three motors that are strategically placed along the median and ulnar nerves, Bruch said, meaning the vibrations can wake users up from the deepest sleep. The company is also a graduate of Mortar Covington, winning the $1,500 people's choice award during a pitch competition in 2021; and SoCap Accelerate, which focuses on growing startups in the health innovation space.
Bruch hopes to promote Safewave using a handful of deaf influencers, including Matt Maxey, founder of Deafinitely Dope, an American Sign Language interpreter and performer who helps deaf and hard-of-hearing fans enjoy live music. Maxey was recently chosen to go on tour with Chance the Rapper as his personal ASL interpreter for his live shows.
Safewave also will use resellers like Oaktree Products, a clinical supplier to the hearing care industry.
"We're seeing a lot of traction there," Bruch said.
Its partnership with Covington-based IT consulting firm and Google partner Promevo also has been key. Promevo developed Safewave’s mobile app at no cost, Bruch said, in exchange for marketing case studies.
The app will be a free download on both the Apple Store and Google Play. Bruch said Safewave will likely roll out a subscription model with future generations as the tech advances.
He plans to roll out the first of four planned future iterations sometime next year.
In terms of market size, currently, about 15% of the U.S. population is deaf or hard of hearing, which totals 48 million people. Worldwide, that number is 466 million – a figure that’s expected to rise to 900 million by the year 2050.
Add in its other target demographics and Safewave’s total addressable market is massive – an estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant special needs, while dementia and Alzheimer's impacts about 60 million and 40 million, respectively.
Bruch said fitness tracker Fitbit's 2021 $2.1 billion acquisition by Google shows the wearables market is still ripe for innovation. The goal is to keep striving toward that kind of company sale.
"That's our goal. People always tell us, 'We've never heard of anything like this,'" he said. “This is just the first (step). There's so many different ways that this band could be utilized."
