Lupo, the Glasgow-based makers of an interactive micro device designed to eradicate the trauma of lost keys, phone, wallets and purses are seeking new venture capital finance to scale up production, boost staff numbers and “take their US-based competition head on”.
Strathclyde University hardware engineering and management graduate Raj Sark, founder and director of Lupo, told the Sunday Herald that the device – already selling strongly in online outlets like Amazon and in branded corporate promotions – was attracting more investor interest having won two recent start-up "beauty contests": Opportunity Knocks hosted by RBS where the firm won £10,000 and Pitch@Palace event hosted by the Duke of York, where Lupo secured a place at next month's national finals, to be held at St. James's Palace in London.
Selling for £20 and combining “form, function and power”, the Lupo tag about the diameter of a £2 coin, makes a high-pitched "peeping" sound when contacted via a mobile phone, and will also cause the phone to ring if pressed. To prevent misplacement and theft, it can also alert users when valuables with a Lupo tag attached are moving out of the immediate range of their owners.
Manufacture of the tag, which is made viable by Sark’s patented innovations in micro battery life extension, is currently centred on Clydebank, but a new injection of funds is being sought to allow a rapid scaling-up of manufacturing, mainly in China. “It’s very economic to scale up and we aim to reach cost price of only £1 p/u on the hardware. Our costs are mainly maintaining the software and customer support.” Stark said.
Future plans for Lupo include making inroads into the “internet of things”, commercialising a “software development kit” (SDK) which will enable hardware developers to create their own apps, and a pilot run of extending the Lupo concept to to the insurance industry.
Darjeeling-born Sark, who also studied at the elite MIT India and been awarded a fellowship from MIT Cambridge Massachusetts, has worked in technology companies from London to Copenhagen. He praised the Scottish Government’s efforts to nurture a “remarkable” start-up economy.
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