As the coronavirus continues to limit Rhode Island's economy, a new startup is just getting off the ground.
Ocean State Shields, the brainchild of four Rhode Island entrepreneurs, is a company made for this moment. Its goal is to provide disinfected personal protective equipment to businesses and schools so they're able to open safely once the spread of coronavirus has sufficiently slowed. That could come as soon as next Saturday, May 9, Gov. Gina Raimondo told reporters this week.
"We managed to get this off the ground and launched in just about 14 days' time," said Allyson Cote, who is spearheading the project. "It has been bananas."
Ocean State Shields has developed a line of personal protective equipment imbued with a clinical-grade disinfectant developed by SD Labs, a company based in Connecticut. The disinfectant is designed to protect against viruses for up to 90 days, thus giving it the name SD 90, and is non-toxic.
SD Labs says its technology has been used in Wuhan, China, the original global epicenter of the coronavirus, by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as at the Incheon International Airport in South Korea and at Changi Airport in Singapore. Cote approached the disinfectant's creator, Frank Catapano, directly to ask if Ocean State Shields could operate as SD Labs' strategic distribution partner for the new products in Rhode Island.
"I was thrilled beyond words that, without a second's hesitation, he said yes," Cote said. "One of the things that I'm most excited about with SD 90, and the reason I think it's so much better [than traditional disinfectants], is that once you apply it, is that it maintains its efficacy. You're not just cleaning something. You're completely disinfecting it. You're protecting it."
Ocean State Shields is working to apply the disinfectant to polycarbonate shields, durable rubber and cotton gloves and pre-treated wipes, which are all available through its website. The wipes are already back-ordered.
Cote is heading up the operation as CEO. Working with her are three co-founders: Jessica Thomas, Esteban Rodriguez and chief information officer Todd Thomas.
Cote describes Ocean State Shields' customer base as "anyone who breathes oxygen," but the first recipients of the new products will be small businesses in Rhode Island. Cote and her team plan to donate the first batch of products before opening up their product portfolio commercially, targeting day cares, businesses, office buildings and even farmer's markets.
"We want to make sure people have logical options that would maybe help reduce fear, and would help keep their employees safe, their customers safe, their students safe, without the worry that they're constantly reapplying bleach and toxic chemicals," Cote said. "In looking at the landscape of what happened in Providence, a lot of businesses are literally on the verge of collapse."
For Cote, investing in the Rhode Island startup community is a personal mission. Her background is in companies with Ocean State roots—Maternova, ShapeUp—but that play in the global marketplace.
Ocean State Shields, on the contrary, is targeted entirely toward Rhode Islanders, during and after coronavirus. While it may take a while for the startup's founders to be able to take paychecks for themselves, Cote and her team are in it for the long haul.
"We understand the economic hardships that everybody's facing," Cote said. "We're not a pop-up venture. We're not going to disappear in three months."
