Meet the Entrepreneurs
Teddy The Guardian January 2014
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CONTACT INFORMATION
teddy the guardian
The revolutionary plush bear that monitors children’s health and reduces medical expenses
Zagreb, Croatia
josipa@teddytheguardian.com ana@teddytheguardian.com www.teddytheguardian.com
/TeddyTheGuardian
Josipa Majic and Ana Burica, Founders, Croatia
CHALLENGE Misdiagnosing a child’s health condition can be detrimental to the child, and at the same time, a costly experience for both the parents and the hospital. Misdiagnosis is often the result of skewed data caused by the child’s increased emotional stress during the measurement of his or her vital signs. An unfriendly environment such as a hospital or doctor’s office and the unpleasant appearance of measurement tools can easily alter the final diagnosis. According to a recent study, 80% of children that visit hospitals go through this type of stress.
“IN THE U.S., THE ESTIMATED COST FOR MISDIAGNOSIS OCCURRING IN PEDIATRIC HOSPITALS IS USD8.3 BILLION DOLLARS.”
IDEA The first product that Ana Burica and Josipa Majic, two business students from the University of Zagreb, developed together was iDerma, an innovative software system that enables dermatologists to monitor and track patient performance. While working with the medical sector throughout the launch of iDerma, the entrepreneurs gained valuable experience and a better understanding of the needs of hospitals and doctors and established close relationships with them. Their idea for Teddy the Guardian emerged from working directly with medical professionals: Ana and Josipa noticed how doctors and nurses often use plush toys during medical examinations to distract the child’s attention and avoid skewed measurement results. They decided to develop a plush bear with certified embedded medical sensors that measure the child’s heart rate, oxygen saturation, and body temperature seamlessly during play, then capture and send the data using wireless technology to the pediatrician’s app. This was the beginning of Teddy The Guardian. Every time a child takes Teddy The Guardian by the hand or puts Teddy’s paw on his forehead, sensors detect the values, capture them and transmit in real time to a mobile app where data is analyzed, visualized, managed and downloaded by the medical staff and the child’s parents.
“TEDDY THE GUARDIAN BRINGS ACCURATE DATA THAT PROVIDES ADDED VALUE TO WHAT DOCTORS DO.”
@TeddyGuardian
BUSINESS MODEL Teddy The Guardian plans to target both the consumer and medical markets. Potential buyers on the consumer market are parents whose children are afraid of doctors, nurses, hospitals or medical treatments, as well as those whose children need to undergo regular medical measurements due to chronic diseases and ailments. For the medical market, hospitals, as well as doctors, are important clients as the teddy bears are available for sale in bulk. Because the requirements and needs are different for the consumer and medical markets, the team plans to develop two versions of Teddy The Guardian: one made for the consumer market which will cost USD69 and include additional features such as games or virtual gifts for children. The currently available version, the one for the medical market, costs about USD230 and has to strictly fulfill all required regulatory standards. The entrepreneurs financed the first phase of product development (hardware development, R&D) from the savings of their previous startup, iDerma. In November 2013, the entrepreneurs presented their idea at various competitions and received a total of USD30,000 funding (USD10,000 as winner of the VentureOut Challenge and USD20,000 as winner of the Creative Business Cup, Copenhagen). Since July, the team has been actively promoting its product and has generated USD650,000 from 2,800 pre-ordered teddies. As a result, the team has grown from two people (Ana and Josipa) to 13 within 6 months, including new hires in R&D, sales and marketing and development.
www.infodev.org
twitter: @infoDev
ENTREPRENEUR’S INSIGHTS
NEXT STEPS
WORKING WITH infoDev
Validate Teddy The Guardian on the medical market • DON’T BE AFRAID OF INTRODUCING YOUR IDEA INTO THE MARKET: Creating your own product is a long process; nevertheless, try to get your startup on its feet. • BE IMPACTFUL: When you create your own company, you maximize both your impact and your learning process. • CREATE YOUR OWN EMPLOYMENT: Tough economic environments present the best opportunities to create your own company and provide employment.
Launch Teddy The Guardian to the consumer market (mid 2014) Set up a global team: establish a team in Silicon Valley, the leading hub for tech entrepreneurs, and strengthen the team of developers in Croatia and the R&D team in the U.K.
PROGRAM: VentureOut Challenge (Moldova, November, 2013), Youth Entrepreneurship Camp (Macedonia, 2012) SUPPORT PROVIDED: USD10,000 cash award, two-day Internationalization Workshop (including one-to-one mentorship and pitching session) MAIN BENEFITS FROM ENTREPRENEUR’S VIEW: • The team received valuable feedback and support on how to successfully pitch the product to the public and how to expand to other markets.
Establish Teddy The Guardian in the U.S. and European market, the two most important medical markets in the world Expand to China and India, both developing countries with increasing spending on children’s health
• Winning the overall VentureOut Challenge 2013, representing the ECA region, gave the entrepreneurs recognition and exposure to international markets.
Develop customizable versions of Teddy The Guardian which are able to measure specific medical conditions depending on the needs of the child (for example, identifying blood sugar levels for children suffering from diabetes)
• Through infoDev’s partnership with CRDF Global, the entrepreneurs attended the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show in January in Las Vegas. This gave the team crucial exposure to the U.S. market.
KEY OUTCOMES VALUE FOR USERS Decreased stress levels for children: Children’s stress level decreases during doctor visits. More accurate and reliable health diagnosis: Parents will have more reliable information to understand their child’s health and keep track of their child’s stress levels throughout the day. Doctors will collect reliable data points to help them provide more accurate prescriptions. Low cost solution saves money: Hospitals and Health Care Systems avoid the high costs of misdiagnosing.
BUSINESS FACTS REVENUE GROWTH SINCE START: INVESTMENT ATTRACTED:
(First phase carried out with personal investment and money awarded in competitions)
USD650,000 (from pre-orders since its launch in July 2013)
USD10,000 from VentureOut Challenge 2013
USD20,000 Creative Business Cup 2013
CONTRACTS SECURED: (July to October 2013)
JOBS CREATED
13
NATURE OF JOBS CREATED:
(4) R&D
2,800
(Pre-ordered Teddies)
(4) Product-Development (2) Sales&Marketing
Supported by:
www.infodev.org
twitter: @infoDev
(3) Developers