Kevin Mako Announces Dreamvention Finalists with Frito-Lay and Robert Herjevac

With over 13,000 applicants to the Dreamvention contest from across the United States, we’ve finally decided on the top 5 inventions created by some brilliant young minds. In partnership with Frito-Lay and  Shark Tank Star Robert Herjevac, our product development firm brought the finalists’ inventions to life!

For a quick refresher on what the Dreamvention contest is, check out its national announcement on the Ellen Degeneres show:

Our Product Development Firm Surprised the Young Inventors

The finalists and their parents were flown out to Austin, Texas, thinking they were just one of many semi-finalists in the competition. Little did they know that our product development firm had already created their invention idea and they were each one of the five finalists, so they won a whopping $10,000!

Our Founder, Kevin Mako, surprised them with this exciting news when they arrived at our studio and debuted their professionally designed inventions by our product development firm. To watch Kevin Mako share the news and the kids’ ecstatic reactions, click on the video below!

The Dreamvention Finalists

Our Toronto and Austin product development firms worked collaboratively to bring these inventions to life. With that, we are proud to introduce the finalists:

1. The Storm Sleeper: A pillow-like device that you put around your head. It plays music to drown out the sound of a storm and is additionally useful if your dad’s snoring is too loud!
2. The Toaster Shooter: It shoots your toast right out of the toaster and onto your plate – hands-free!
3. Chalkers: A device you attach to the tip of your shoe so you can create chalk art with your feet and avoid getting your hands messy.
4. Pleasant Awakening: Instead of an annoying alarm going off in the morning, this device gently tickles you awake with a feather.
5. Shoe Purse: Inspired by a young girl who lost her earrings while playing soccer, this pocket-sized purse attaches to the back of your shoe so you can tuck your jewelry away while having fun!

You can vote for your favorite product at mydreamvention.com, where the winner with the most votes wins an enormous grand prize of $250,000! Our product development firm has already placed our votes. Submit your vote and let us know which project is your favorite in the comments below.

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!