Techtalks@Cass - A Very Bright Idea (For Cyclists) - How Blaze Is Building a Hardware Empire
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A Very Bright Idea (For Cyclists) - How Blaze Is Building a Hardware Empire
TechTalks@Cass (in partnership with Thomson Reuters) are intimate, in-depth interviews with some of the UK’s most innovative and inspirational tech entrepreneurs. Meet them up close and personal at Cass Business School, with plenty of time for your questions.
Please arrive at 6 PM for a 6.30 PM start. Afterwards, we are off to a nearby pub to continue the conversation over a few drinks.
Tech Writer Matt Cowan Interviews Emily Brooke, Founder and CEO of Blaze
Emily Brooke is the closest thing London’s tech scene has to a super hero. She built a product that can help save lives impressed Richard Branson so much that he invested in the company and is building a globally competitive hardware company with just a handful of employees. Not to mention, she’s still in her 20s.
Founded in 2012 by Emily, Blaze's mission is to improve the safety of cyclist on the streets. When cyclcists are riding in the drivers' blind spot, they risk to be run over by the other vehicles (especially by buses and vans). Being a cyclist herself, Emily realized that this would not happen if cyclists had the chance to signal their presence to the driver. Blaze Laserlight is a front light with super-bright LEDs that also projects the image of a bike into the road ahead of the cyclist (a bit like a "bat signal"). It alerts road users ahead of the cyclist of their presence, helping to prevent accidents.
After a very successful crowdfunding campagin on Kickstarters in 2012, Blaze sold 3,000 bike laserlights by August 2014 all over the world. After the pre-order period, the company is now selling the laserlights through their own website and through Evans Cycles shops in the UK. The demand is global, especially from the US (San Francisco, New York, Seattle and Chicago).
Come and hear Emily's inspiring story at the next TechTalk@Cass. Emily Brooke is a Physicist - bicyclist - Designer - entrepreneur. Emily began reading Physics at Oxford University but left to pursue Design in Brighton and Milan, before winning an entrepreneurial scholarship in America. At university Emily created a radical innovation set to drastically improve cyclists’ safety and started her own company Blaze to make it a reality. The Laserlight tackles the greatest cause of fatality, being caught in the blind spot or a vehicle turning across an unseen bike, by using a laser to project the symbol of a bike ahead of a cyclist. Two years on and after a successful Kickstarter campaign, Blaze have a team based in East London, manufacturing in China, have raised money from the likes of the Branson Family and Index Ventures and their flagship Laserlight has is shipping to 47 different countries around the world. It is the first of a range of products for urban cyclists. Matt Cowan is the Director of Media at Nelson Bostock Communications. Previously the European Technology Correspondent for Reuters TV and contributing writer to Wired UK, Matt has interviewed many of the tech sector’s most influential figures. He’s a great storyteller and great at getting others to tell their story.
Join us and be inspired #casstechtalks
