Summary:
An Italian monitoring system company has developed a technical solution for the actual COVID-19 emergency, helping to answer the growing hygiene necessity. The firm has developed, prototyped and is going to produce smart lids for reusable bottles. Using embedded UV-C (ultraviolet C) LEDs (light emitting diode) and a proprietary closure system, they can sanitise both bottle and content in the safest way, thanks to two use control components. Joint venture and licence agreement are sought.
Description:
The Italian company, which operates in the north of Italy, where it is located since its foundation in 2013, has developed an adaptable and sanitising lid for reusable bottles. A small but efficient object that reduces the bacterial proliferation and the risk to catch infections. Tapping the button on the top of it, a short wavelength LED (light emitting diode) activates to sanitise bottle and content from germs and bacteria. The germicidal light irradiates the closed areas and forces the microorganisms to a long exposition to rays, to which they can not survive. They are tested modalities, certificated in laboratory and approved with sanitation method.
The lid can be adapted to many bottles on the market and it is useful for adult and children safe drinking. In fact, the feature that makes the lid more interesting is the adaptability: it can fit different types of bottles thanks to a particular closure mechanism, making it a versatile product for the consumer market. This is a completely new way to apply intelligent to a daily use object: every bottle can gain value and be useful in a second mode.
The company background is relative to the development of monitoring systems for (public) critical infrastructures (aqueducts, purification plants, lifts, measuring points and other). Recently it has expanded its activity to other sectors like smart farming, sustainable mobility and dietary supplements, where it found the possibility to space on techniques like machine learning, artificial intelligence, IoT and system integration. The firm has lately enlarged its staff, employing young and dynamic resources and it intends to continue to invest on human capital. At present the company can count on two computer programmers, a digital manufacturing designer, a microbiologist as well as on the experience and competence of the founder and owner system programmer.
The desire to move to new markets has inevitably brought the company to experiment with consumer products, keeping the possibility to add a human-object interaction as the core of past activities of the business is. Due to the actual pandemic it has been quite easy to understand on which type of feature to concentrate: hygiene.
Currently the prototyping phase is ongoing thanks to the collaboration of experienced companies: the choose of the final design is almost at the end and the electronic part is defined. The project can give the highest benefits right during this global crise moment with the double aim to protect and feel safe the user as well as reactivate the single-use plastic substitution process. The company is looking for industry/small-medium enterprises interested in idea, values and aims on which this project is based and prepared to bring it up together.
The company is looking for partners that can help it to finalise the lid launch (through joint venture and/or licence agreement) on foreign markets.
Type (e.g. company, R&D institution…), field of industry and Role of Partner Sought:
The company lets itself the liberty to keep in consideration two types of partnerships: joint venture agreement (the favourite one) and/or license agreement.
In case of joint venture, the firm aspires to find a partner of modest dimension and with a famous name, that has the possibility to give value during the phase of commercialisation of the product, as well as economically sustain the production. This type of partnership conduces to the creation of a joint venture agreement with the purpose to bring up the project to its two last phases within 2021 and continue with the selling strategy of the proposed product implementing a subdivision of risks and profits. The ideal partner is a company known at European or worldwide level that operates in the sectors of health, sport, camping, hygiene, beverage, restoration or other categories that can find consistence in the UV lid features. The firm can directly contribute to the commercialisation and launch on the market thanks to the notoriety of its own brand and to the relevance of the own current activity. It will be responsible for implementing marketing strategies, concurred inside the joint venture especially for the promotional campaign. Furthermore, the candidate company must be able to financially sustain the series production of the lids, from the realisation of industrial moulds to the packaging. The production phase can happen in third-party factories.
The second type of partnership considered is the licence agreement, a deal that has more possibilities to occur, since it is recognised it is not extremely easy to satisfy the first request (joint venture agreement). This partnership aims to the completion just of the productive phase and does not include the commercialisation phase (branding, promotion, selling etc.). The licensor grants the faculty to produce and distribute the proposed product with the aim to find reference manufacturing points firstly at European level, then worldwide.
Stage of Development:
Under development/lab tested
Comments Regarding Stage of Development:
The company is in the middle of the process of the project development. Many phases have been concluded:
- market analysis: the lid is considered as complementary accessorise to the reusable bottles or travel mugs; this market offers a considerable serie of standardised products addressed to a bigger group of needs;
- concept;
- designing, 3d modelling: the part that had more attention is the closure mechanism which influences the external shape of the lid, too.
The current phase regards:
- prototyping: thanks to 3d printing the designer and technical team is able to adjust some features connected to functionality and ergonomic and some technical finishing required for the moulding process;
- electronic: the technical and programming team is working on a prototypical electronic with a compact dimension, able to fit the lid and contain all the needed components like sensors, LEDs, charging port etc. that have been carefully chosen from industry-leading suppliers.
The next phase will be the production, which is expected to start in May 2021. It includes the creation of varied moulds for the production of all the components that form the lid.
In the same period the company intends to start the marketing campaign so that to have enough time to create visibility on the market.
IPR Status:
Secret Know-how,Patent(s) applied for but not yet granted
Comments Regarding IPR Status:
The work made till now is protected by reservation contracts (non-disclosure agreements) entered with experienced companies the firm collaborated with.
The prototyping phase will permit to obtain the final design of the product in each its technical part: dimensions, tolerances, limits to ensure formability. This will allow the firm and the industrial design partner to present a patent proposal, on which they had already informed as well as on timing and costs at a consultancy Italian company in Industrial and Intellectual Property.
Furthermore, the company will take care of the laboratory tests to ensure the effectiveness of UltraViolet LEDs on different bottles. The chosen ultraviolet LEDs are sold by an industry-leading suppliers, whose all products come with quality certifications and tests on life-cycle, resistance, performance etc.
External code:
TOIT20210330001
