Award-winning Assistive Technology Company Assisting People With Disabilities

Today, on the 16th November, assistive technology company HT Systems launched their equity crowdfunding campaign on PledgeMe in an effort to grow their business and continue to improve the lives of mobility-compromised people and their caregivers. The equity raised will be used to support the release of two new products, as well as their expansion into the Australian market.

Founder of HT Systems, Keith Alexander, comes from an extensive background of engineering; he invented the world-renowned Springfree trampoline, was New Zealand’s Engineering Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010, and is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Canterbury.

The HT story began three and a half years ago, when the University of Canterbury’s Mechanical Engineering Department was approached by the Chief Surgeon at Christchurch’s Burwood Hospital who was concerned about the prevalence of injuries related to lifting mobility-compromised patients.

Working alongside University of Canterbury students in the Mechanical Engineering Department, Professor Alexander learned that rolling a seated patient forward at their centre of mass could transfer them from one seated position to another without any need to physically lift them.

Many prototypes and valuable conversations with mobility-compromised people later, HT Systems was born alongside their new revolutionary product: the Kera sit2sit.

The innovative Kera transfer aid has since transformed the lives of hundreds of kiwis, assisting the elderly and mobility-compromised both at home and in care facilities. The product empowers people with disabilities and their caregivers to move between positions quickly, safely and easily with a one-to-one transfer solution. Not only this, but by reducing the number of caregivers required to move a person, the Kera provides a better quality of life for carers too.

“Just as I believe that trampolines should be designed to be safe for excited children, I truly believe that effective assistive devices should be readily available to enhance the wellbeing of those without all the capabilities of the young or strong. Assistive technologies like the Kera can do just that by providing dignity and quality of life to people living with disabilities,” Alexander expresses.

HT Systems’ clever kiwi ingenuity was recognised last year, when they won the Aged Care Category in the HealthTech Supernode Challenge 2020.

However, the Kera sit2sit is only the beginning for HT Systems, and they have strong aspirations to be a multiproduct, global technology company.

It is for this reason that HT Systems have turned to crowdfunding, with their PledgeMe Campaign launching publicly today.

“We have come to acknowledge that sales in the New Zealand market, alone, will not allow us to hire the extra engineering and marketing expertise we need to grow and create more solutions for people living with disabilities,” Alexander explains.

The equity raised from this campaign will provide the company with enough funds to expand into Australia and build a new business base. This will support them in their endeavours to put their extensive product development plans into action, and enable hundreds more mobility-compromised people to live a life of dignity and respect.

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