Lucy Beckley
1 min read
AirMate
We develop new technologies and products to help save children’s lives. We make sustainable and innovative self-inflating apparel for children to help prevent them from drowning.
Christopher Brummayer, Melissa Leibetseder and Clemens Mayr met when volunteering at their local fire station. In 2020, there was a tragic accident where a child drowned in a lake very close to their fire station. The tragedy prompted Christopher to start researching life vests and other life saving devices for children to see what was available for those who couldn’t swim. As Christopher says, “I wondered why there was such a lack of flotation aids for children aged two to five. Through my research, I found there was no innovation in this space and wanted to change this.”
Around the same time, Christopher was studying for a BA in Innovation and Product Management. As part of his studies, he had to design a product and was inspired to create one for children to prevent them from drowning. He launched AirMate in 2020 and started developing a self-inflating T-shirt for kids. When a child falls into water, the AirMate T-shirt will immediately inflate and transport the child to the water's surface safely. In late 2020, Melissa joined the team to work on refining the technology; following a year of research and development, they decided to change the way the T-shirt would inflate and expand its capability. In 2022, Clemens joined to assist with the product development and create an app to complement the rescue process.
Milestones
- Spending a year developing our product and adapting our technology following what we learnt.
- Winning both the Danube Cup and the Edison Prize by tech2b in 2022.
- Receiving the patent for our product and making our first prototype in 2023.
- Launching our kickstarter in 2023 and creating our first successful and approved prototype.
Main Photo by: Antje Wolm
AirMate received initial funding from the Upper Austrian government for €30,000 ($33,000) and a funding, mentoring and office space package from the incubator tech2b. In 2023, it will launch a kickstarter campaign with the intention of bringing a product to market in 2024.
airmate.at
Lucy Beckley
Lucy is a do-er, creative thinker and word tinkerer.She has 15 years experience in marketing, communications and sales, working in a variety of roles for corporate, consumer, not-for-profit and startup businesses in Germany, Portugal and the UK.
