The latest innovation coming out of Rijeka.
The Valinee Vinger start-up is currently testing three prototypes of a smart jacket which will be included in its Kickstarter campaign in February. Although Ultijack is still under development and is expected to reach the market by the beginning of spring, that was not an obstacle for it to gain its first angel investor, reports Poslovni.hr on December 16, 2015.
The startup, which has been launched by an award-winning designer Valinea Vinger from Rijeka, has attracted a 150,000 kuna investment from the president of the Croatian Business Angels Network (CRANE) Davorin Štetner. Ultijack is a multifunctional smart jacket developed in Croatia. In addition to Vinger, the project includes a team consisting of developers Luka Filipan and Filip Stojanac, marketing expert Damijan Marković and adviser Damian Dario Zorić.
“We wanted to create a jacket which would not only be attractive in its appearance, but would allow the owner some new forms of interaction with devices which are used every day, such as smart phones, laptops and tablets”, Winger said. She explained that they have developed a jacket which uses NFC technology to enable the user to make a call by pulling a cell phone over a sleeve, or to display the calendar.
“The users will be able to adjust these gestures themselves according to their own preferences, because when they go hiking, for example, maybe they will want their jacket to automatically activate the map of their location”, Winger explained. She added that the jacket includes a charger for mobile phone, a slot for headphones, cell phone, wallet, and a “purse”. “Our wish is that Ultijack will enable you to forget about all other purses and bags, and that your belongings will be kept safe in the jacket”, Winger said.
She explained that they are now preparing for the Kickstarter campaign planned for February and are busily working on further development. In recent years in Croatia, a few startups have appeared who have flirted with fashion and wearable technology, like Bellabeat which has attracted 6.5 million dollar investment and Kish, a smart umbrella which sold the first thousand pieces in three months. Davorin Štetner, the investor in Ultijack, said he was delighted with the commitment which the project founders have shown. “There are still many challenges to be met, but I am looking forward to the great interest from VC funds”, Štetner concluded.
