PINCH Makes an Impact on Indiegogo

This week at MAKO we’re celebrating our friend and client Sameem Monzayvian and his MAKO-designed product PINCH Safe Outlet (PINCH) as it starts a month-long crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. After the first 48 hours of the campaign, PINCH backers have already raised more than 40% of the $18,000 goal, pushing PINCH to Trending status on Indiegogo.

Pinch smart outlets

When Sameem first came to MAKO to meet with our President, James Chalmers over a year ago, he had a clear vision for the product he wanted to develop. Both James and Founder Kevin Mako saw the early idea of PINCH as an excellent example of what we call ‘Product 2.0’ – taking an existing product and making game-changing improvements to it in order to disrupt the market. We’re very proud of our design team for working with Sameem to execute on his vision and deliver a design and prototype that pairs product functionality with a sleek, elegant design.

So, what is PINCH? Take a look at the outlets in the room you’re in right now. Are they safe for kids to be around? Probably not. That’s where this product comes in. PINCH is a child-proof electrical outlet cover that requires a two-handed pinching manoeuvre to operate. It’s designed with a colour-coded visual indicator system that allows you to recognize right away whether or not the outlet is in use, and the patent-pending tabs snap shut within fractions of a second when a plug is removed.

Invention Development: PINCH

What does this mean for your child-proofing needs? Small children don’t have the dexterity or strength in their fingers to operate PINCH’s tabs, which means they’ll never be able to stick a foreign object into an open outlet – something that results in serious injuries to over 2,400 North American children each year.

Since Sameem first met with us, his dedication to this passion project has grown with the product itself. With our help he went from an idea in his mind to an idea on paper, all the way to a working prototype, an exhibit at the Canadian National Exhibition’s Innovation Garage, and now an Indiegogo campaign well on its way to success. Committed to taking PINCH forward into manufacturing this fall, Sameem is using Indiegogo as a way to generate awareness for this product. We’re certainly excited to see him on this platform, giving a larger audience the opportunity to create safer homes with PINCH at a fraction of the future retail price.

Whether you’re a parent, a design guru, or love to see innovative products of all kinds, you’ll appreciate Sameem’s journey. As his product development team, we’ve certainly enjoyed our journey with him and can’t wait to see PINCH hit store shelves! To learn more about PINCH, take a look at the Indiegogo campaign here: https://igg.me/at/pinch-safe-outlet.

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!