Summary[1]Edit
WeWALK has built patented tech & Microsoft AI into the white cane to help the visually impaired live safer, more independent lives. With thousands of users in 59 countries and backed by Innovate UK, we’re raising to boost our global expansion & deliver new features via a subscription model.
- WeWALK values assistive mobility technologies addressable market at (£1.7bn)
- Backed by Microsoft, Imperial College London, RNIB and Vestel
- Amazon's 2021 Startup of the Year, one of TIME's Best Invention of 2019
- B2C & B2B2C business model
Idea[1]Edit
Visually impaired people have used the standard white cane for mobility for nearly a century. Everything else has changed dramatically with technology, so why not the white cane? That’s why the founders of the company developed the WeWALK Smart Cane, which was born from our own experiences of visual impairment.
Backed by Microsoft, WeWALK uses advanced tech and AI to better understand how visually impaired people move, enhancing the user experience with revolutionary mobility features. Vestel, one of Europe’s largest electronic manufacturers and a WeWALK investor covers manufacturing, warranties and quality assurance. .
WeWALK sells B2C via Amazon & our website, and B2B2C via key visual impairment orgs and government agencies. WeWALK is also covered by health insurance.
- 253m visually impaired people. 700m elderly people are potential WeWALK users
- The Assistive Tech Market is estimated at $31.2bn by 2027. As sight loss comes with age, the world’s growing, ageing population is causing this market to grow
WeWALK has attracted a lot of global media attention from the likes of CNN, the BBC, The Times, Forbes & Bloomberg.
We're raising to accelerate our global expansion and add new software features to our high gross margin hardware business, including indoor navigation, mobility tracking and smart cities integration via a subscription model. We’ll also develop new and improved hardware.
Team[1]Edit
Gökhan Meriçliler, CEO
- Former President, Young Guru Academy (YGA)
- Founded three impact-driven start-ups
- Kürşat Ceylan, CPO
- Turkey's Fortune Under 40, Presented at UN
- Former Roche employee
Sadık Ünlü, US Sales Lead
- Responsible for building government partnerships
- Closed deals with key accounts
- Murat Ugiş, Marketing Lead
- Experience in international sales and marketing
- Held senior positions at Unilever & Beiersdorf
Jean Marc Feghali, R&D Lead
- Transport for London IDAG Member
- Imperial College London Medal for Outstanding Achievement
- Royal Institute of Navigation W.G.P Lamb Award
Oğulcan Başkan, Sales Manager
- Responsible for building collaborations with key assistive tech companies and organisations
- Worked for My Dream Companion Project (reached 150k disabled people, Winner of 2 GSMA Awards)
Mesut Yılmaz, Product Manager
- Led WeWALK's manufacturing partner, Vestel product development process from the beginning
- Worked for My Dream Companion Project (reached 150k disabled people, Winner of 2 GSMA Awards)
Burak Enez, Hardware Tech Lead
- Has a patent in the area of white goods industry with novel solutions
- Has a conference paper in the area of biosensors
İbrahim Erkaplan, Software Tech Lead
- WeWalk's Senior iOS Developer
- Former Turkish Airlines & Yıldız Holding Employee
Joe Alfonso, User Success Lead
- Responsible for WeWALK's high user satisfaction rate (81%)
- Former Mars Inc. employee
RisksEdit
As with any investment, investing in WeWALK carries a level of risk. Overall, based on the key risks highlighted below, the degree of risk associated with an investment in WeWALK is higher than in a company that's trading on a public market.
Early-stage investmentEdit
WeWALK is at one of the earliest stages of the business lifecycle, and the failure rate of companies at that stage is usually much higher than those at a later stage.
Illiquid investmentEdit
The number of transactions in shares of private companies is usually significantly lower than in public companies, typically resulting in it taking longer to sell shares in private companies at a price that is at least equal to the price that the shares were bought at. Accordingly, the WeWALK investment opportunity is considered to be higher risk than more liquid companies.
ReferencesEdit