Page 61 - Innovation Delaware 2021

pandemic INNOVATORS
These Delaware companies pivoted to provide new solutions in the time of
COVID, and have thrived as a result.
IO Projects
IOProjects got its start in Europe, with a focus on providing digital signage to
major customers such as Mercedes-Benz. But the tech company has now found a new home in Delaware, and a new focus on helping people weather the pandemic.
Ten years ago, IO Projects sustained a major hit when the venture capital firm backing it went bankrupt. “We went into survival mode to start again,” says CEO MARTIN RUFFERT. “We decided to get investors and start growing again by moving to the United States, because the risk aversity is different here.”
Ruffert’s first instinct was to move to Silicon Valley, but he soon realized that an East Coast location was more convenient to keep IO Projects in touch with its European customers. Ruffert entered into talks with investors in Philadelphia, but “nothing ever happened, and then we learned about [Delaware Gov.] Jack Markell and the Global Delaware initiative, where they were fishing for global companies to come to Delaware.”
The ease of doing business in Delaware became quickly apparent. Ruffert recalls having a detailed conversation about his company with someone at
a networking event. The next time Ruffert met his new acquaintance, “I realized it was Jack Markell.” Markell introduced Ruffert to a potential customer and “gave an elevator pitch better than I could have done.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, IO Projects has launched two new projects with tremendous potential.
One is a collaboration with Markevis Gideon, founder of NERDiT NOW. Ruffert became aware of Gideon when the young entrepreneur went on Shark Tank to pitch a kiosk where people would be able to drop off their broken cell phones and laptops for repair.
“It was an interesting idea, and then COVID hit, and suddenly it became more urgent to have an
MARTIN RUFFERT
interface with customers without needing to touch or speak with them,” Ruffert says. “He has lot of investors lining up now and we’re hoping to help him have the first kiosks out by the next quarter.”
IO Projects’ other major undertaking is a tech solution that keeps the elderly connected with their loved ones during the pandemic. It’s a 3D-printed box that plugs into television screens at home or in a room at an assisted living facility.
“The target audience is people who are not able to use a tablet or a smartphone to have a video call with their loved ones,” Ruffert says. “The family can log in through an app and call the parent. The box will detect the call and switch the TV to show a picture of the video call.”
The elderly customer receives a remote with two buttons — one green, one red — to either accept or decline the call. The TV doesn’t have to be on to receive the video call.
“We’re talking right now with the community of assisted living facilities because their problem is that they’re often obliged to reserve their personnel’s time to hold devices for the elderly during video calls,” Ruffert says. “So this is a real problem solved for them.”
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