What this Philly-area start-up won on Richard Branson’s private island (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
It’s not something you’re likely to see often: a founder of a start-up not yet profitable, in fact only just beginning to generate revenue, sunning and funning around Sir Richard Branson’s private tropical paradise in the British Virgin Islands.
But that’s where Drew Lakatos, of Fort Washington-based Tango, was for a week in April, sailing on a catamaran, getting up close and personal with lemurs, and zip-lining to see flamingos.
The motivation for his time on Necker Island, however, was serious business — a worldwide competition for start-ups that the Montgomery County company out to prevent hip fractures in the elderly actually won.
“It’s incredible to be recognized on a global level for something that was really generated in my basement five years ago,” said Lakatos, 48, who lives in Allentown.
That something is a high-tech inflatable belt equipped with WiFi and Bluetooth to relay fall alerts by text or email to caregivers. It contains motion-sensing technology to assess when a serious hip-imperiling fall is imminent so that the air bag is deployed in time.
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