3 start-ups ticking boxes in 2020

Whilst there has been little to celebrate in 2020, it has given many consumers the time at home to explore new tech categories outside of their usual remit such as smart home, e-mobility and gaming accessories which has been a good news story for the channel.

There has also been growing consumer awareness of personal health, sustainability and environmentally friendly products. These are some great trends for the channel to explore and there are some interesting start-ups coming through that could make a worthwhile addition to any distributor or retailer portfolio in the run up to Christmas.

Vekkit

Vekkit is a Polish startup that wants to put the smart into your bike. With a battery bag that sits on your handle bars, a smart sensor on the pedal and motor on the front wheel, the Vekkit solution transforms your humble pedal bike into an e-bike. Installation is quick and easy with 3 simple steps to follow and should take no more than 5 minutes. The only part you need to pay attention to is make sure you input the correct front wheel size when ordering (the motor is attached here).

Vekkit has a maximum range of 75km (depending on size if bike and load) and a top speed of 25km/h. There’s also an app available so you can set your speed and monitor your ride stats.

Vekkit is a great solution for sustainably minded consumers that don’t want to ditch their existing pedal bike for an electric version.

https://vekkit.com

Tonal

Tonal is a US based startup that’s offering gym goers the next step in home based work outs. The smart all in one machine fits onto your wall and is designed to deliver 170+ different strength and conditioning workouts. The video display lets you select the workout programme you want to follow based on your objective be it losing weight or muscle gain.

The ‘smart’ comes in the form of 17 sensors that do everything from measure your strength, monitor your progress with live reports to adjusting the weight if it senses your struggling with the final few reps.

Combined with a Peloton, fitness fanatics can potentially set up a comprehensive work out experience from the comfort of their home and never go back to the gym. Tonal recently , having previously raised $45m in April 2019.

https://www.tonal.com/

Chewsy

Chewing gum doesn’t seem like an obvious choice for a consumer tech focused article but bear with us on this one. Chewsy is a UK start up that’s come up with a plant based plastic free gum.

It comes in four flavours and is both sugar free and minus a lot of artificial nasties. It’s also biodegradable so we can only hope it can bring about the end to the all too familiar, rubbery polka dots that blight high streets across the world. For tech brands and channel partners looking for an interesting tie up then Chewsy could make an interesting collaboration, especially as gaming powerhouse Razer has recently partnered with 5 Gum from Mars Wrigley on a similar product aimed at gamers.

www.chewsygum.com