NEW INNOVATOR THE ARRIVAL OF baby Jack and all the paraphernalia that goes with a new baby gave interior designer Emma Webb the idea for Stackajack – a new space-saving furniture and storage system for small kids. “When you add up the space it takes to store a high chair, a changing table, an activity centre, a booster seat, etc, it’s over two [square] metres. In small houses or apartments that’s a lot of floorspace,” Webb says.
Webb’s solution is a five-piece stacking system that will be launched in October and available to buy from next year. The product is currently at prototype stage and will be manufactured in Ireland. There are existing products on the market with some level of integration, but Webb says Stackajack includes more pieces, is neater, of better quality, and will be significantly cheaper.
Webb has been working her product for the last two years while juggling her day job and looking after her young son. Help has come from Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown County Enterprise Board, which put Webb on its high potential start-up programme and supported the project with an Innovation voucher.
The vouchers give entrepreneurs the opportunity to tap into the knowledge of a third-level college for product development, and Webb has been working with DIT graduate student Aimee Corcoran on 3D modelling and product animations. DIT is also assisting with prototype production.
Webb estimates it has cost about €40,000 to bring the project to its current stage. Her next task is raising cash to fund tooling and mould costs. Webb’s initial market will be Ireland and the UK, but ultimately she wants to go global. She is kicking off her marketing campaign at a major trade fair in the UK in October and is hoping Stackajack will catch the eye of some of the big names in baby products. It is one of a handful of products to be showcased in the innovation zone at the event which will give Webb the opportunity to pitch directly to head buyers.
Webb has patented her product, but recognises this can only protect it so far. “My aim is to build sales as quickly as possible, to get a really good foothold and establish ourselves as market leader,” she says.
