We are first and foremost a community
From the very beginning, we’ve always made the point that Sparkmate is first and foremost a community. A community of innovators and changemakers who want to build and learn together, and support each other in any area of #entrepreneurship or #startuplife.
We want to empower you to be able to also bootstrap your own products/prototypes, whatever they may be! So you’ll see more infographics, inspiration and just general how-tos. Check around our social medias if you think it could help you - let us know what you think, what we should cover on or how we can further improve it ;)
Here’s what we’ve put together for your weekly Spark reads:
💙 NEWS FROM OUR MATESBumpair receives industrial series certification ⛑
After 3 years of prototyping, testing and iterating, Bumpair has finally received the approval of their industrial series certification! 🥳 One step closer to conquering innovation in #personalprotectiveequipment.
The Bumpair team uses the properties of air in the design of their ultra-protective and ultra-compact product: an inflatable helmet that is safer than a traditional one, which you can easily deflate and keep in your bag. It’s not magic - just science (#airtech and lots of testings)!
It’s not easy introducing “air in a helmet” to certification bodies, but the Bumpair team has never given up. Through hard work, perseverance and continuous development, anyone can now use their helmets 🚀 Congratulations to the Bumpair team, we can’t wait to watch their adventure unfold!
🤸 FUN PRODUCT WE LOVEUse Augmented Reality to make product photos using ClipDrop 📸
Forget the time-consuming product photoshoots and tedious photo editing - If you need quick, easy yet professional looking product photos, just download ClipDrop!
ClipDrop is a new, straightforward app that lets your phone’s camera quickly grab objects (or text!) from your environment and place them into desktop apps as PNG’s with transparent backgrounds.
They’re currently still in beta so expect a few bugs and rough edges, but it’s free for download with 5 photo grabs to try. Any more, you’ll need to buy a subscription which starts at $39.99 for a year. After November 20th, the price will increase to $79.99 a year, or $9.99 a month. So grab it if you love it!
💭 TECH FOOD FOR THOUGHTInto the metaverse: Facebook and Microsoft Teams join the race 💻
Facebook announced its rebranding to become “Meta”, bringing all of their apps under one company brand. Meta’s focus is to bring their metaverse (virtual worlds) to life to help people connect and grow businesses. One of their virtual worlds is Horizon Worlds where you can host your own avatar to connect with other people and their avatars.
Microsoft has also recently introduced Mesh, a collaborative platform for virtual experiences, and will be released into Microsoft Teams next year. Mesh allows you to attend meetings as an avatar, and even navigate around virtual meeting spaces - making it great for global teams.
Do you think virtual worlds is the next evolution of connectivity, allowing you to live your virtual life the same ways you’re living your physical life?
🌱 TECH FOR SUSTAINABILITYMeet Ocean One: The humanoid robot that’s exploring our seas 🤖
Did you know that 80% of our seas remain unexplored? Sustainability also means finding earth-friendly opportunities where we haven’t, and Ocean One is here to help us 🦾
Ocean One has been designed to perform marine tasks of human divers, with comparable capability in underwater manipulation. It can assemble structures, handle samples, artifacts and other irregular shaped objects, and fully navigate waters. It can also use both its hands (with 7 joints each!) and has stereo-vision capabilities.
💥 WHAT’S ON @ SPARKMATEGive the Spark: Events is back on “Mastering Resilience and Grit as an Entrepreneur” ⚡️
As part of growing our community in Hong Kong and giving back, we’re hosting a fireside chat with entrepreneur Dominik Wiesent. Dominik will go through his journey of leaving life and security in Switzerland to come to Asia, and experiencing the trouble of finding liveable and affordable spaces that he became determined to fix, and so he is. As he talks through his experiences, he will answer any question attendees have - no matter what! Entrepreneurship is no straight line ;)
Unfortunately this will be an in-person event BUT we can have a recording ready after the event! So if you have any questions you’d like us to ask Dominik for you, or if you want access to the recording, let us know 👇
Exciting things are happening every day ⚡️ Follow us on social media to stay tuned!