GOGO Band Inc. recently made its national TV debut, another boon in what has been a “breakout year” for the technology-enabled bedwetting solution.
“It’s been a really big year for us, particularly this last three or four months,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jon Coble said.
On Oct. 17, GOGO Band was featured on “The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation,” which highlights world-changing inventions. The GOGO Band solution is wearable biometric technology that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to send an alert before a bedwetting incident occurs.
More than 8 million U.S. children are affected by pediatric enuresis, or bedwetting, which can have detrimental mental health effects like social isolation and depression, Coble said. GOGO Band data shows that within 30 days, children who experienced nightly bedwetting have dry nights 50% of the time, he said. Within 60 days, the percentage of dry nights increases to 90%.
“It’s a big market, and you’re impacting children in such a positive way, and that’s the whole mission,” he said.
For Coble, it’s a personal one. Two of his siblings struggled with bedwetting, one well into adulthood, and he saw the toll it took. He founded GOGO Band in 2016, bringing together insights from data experts and a pediatric urologist and drawing on Richmond’s startup ecosystem resources.
GOGO Band began selling its product in late 2019, then ran into inventory issues in early 2020 as Covid-19 forced factory closures. The GOGO Band team, comprised of six team members and about a dozen consultants, used the time to enhance its production capabilities and marketing message.
Coble said traffic to the website and product sales have exploded since the “Innovation Nation” appearance. For GOGO Band, which recently moved its headquarters to an Ashland warehouse space, a prime focus for 2021 will be keeping pace with demand, especially with the show set to re-air multiple times on CBS and the Discovery Channel.
The GOGO Band system sells for $299, plus $15 a month for predictive alerting. Currently, it’s classified as a lifestyle device, and Coble said he is seeking additional FDA approvals. Next year, they plan to start clinical studies to show the system’s effectiveness. Coble also plans to explore international expansion.
As for what the future holds? Coble wants to research whether a similar system could treat adult enuresis, and he believes the early warning technology can also be applied to chronic conditions like asthma and migraines.
“It’s really amazing how wearable technology is ideally positioned to transform the management of chronic health conditions and diseases,” he said. “We really are at the forefront, we think, of disrupting the entire healthcare industry.”