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TECH NEWS
blaze-3-0Cycle light entrepreneur makes more than £1m in sales this year with innovative light
A small cycle technology business founded by a female entrepreneur is on target to make sales of more than £1m this year - despite its owner saying she never intended to start a business.
Emily Brooke, aged 29, came up with the idea of an LED light that projects an image of a bike onto the road in front of a cyclist to give them added visibility at night and avoid cars turning in front of them.
Emily was studying product design at the University of Brighton when she had the idea, and travelled to China to look into manufacturing.
Back in 2012 we reported on Emily’s Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds to go into production. The campaign quickly made £55,000, doubling the original fundraising target.
She went on to win the New Generation prize at the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Awards 2015.
She told This Is Money: 'The first time I saw the product in China I was very emotional. I thought 'I can't get over-excited – I have to pretend to be a boss'. To hold it after the blood, sweat and tears was very special.'
She said of the fatal bike collision she heard about that inspired her design: 'It was a slap in the face for me. I thought 'this is exactly the product that can tackle this problem – why aren't you doing it?'.'
The £125 light is mainly sold in the UK through Blaze's website, but Brooke said: 'We have been shipping it abroad for the past year and are in 50 countries, including Vietnam last week.
'We are in every Evans Cycles and a few key retailers, such as the Design Store in New York. There will be new products in the autumn. I'm looking at Japan, the US and Germany this year.'
Latest Comments
- chrisonabike 4 sec ago
Thanks. I guess the question is "need". If the road is busy, it sounds like it is a desired route between places? In which case (given this an...
- mdavidford 8 min 1 sec ago
Don't know what you mean. I thought my suggestion was entirely practical.
- hawkinspeter 8 min 21 sec ago
So, it looks like she can choose a 45 minute drive or a 26 minute walk. It's almost as if the scheme is encouraging people to walk short distances...
- mdavidford 10 min 31 sec ago
...and a square of faux sheepskin for the back of your saddle.
- hawkinspeter 20 min 15 sec ago
They've got GPS tracking information, so the app can not allow the journey to be "finished" unless the bike is left in an authorised parking...
- chrisonabike 20 min 44 sec ago
An excellent idea but then - due to expensive lawyers and accountants - no doubt the richer would be found to personally not own or control a penny...
- mitsky 29 min 27 sec ago
Re: the shipping container bike lane......
- Rapha Nadal 42 min 32 sec ago
I'd buy a motorbike fo rthat kind of money!
- ktache 11 hours 35 min ago
There are people out there who will make you the belt out of your old tyre.
Add new comment
13 comments
'people telling us how "cars stopped from turning across me" or "how buses pulled out and then stopped because they saw the light". '
I get this with normal lights. So the 'gimmick' thing still stands IMO
Got one through Kickstarter - it was the first thing I'd backed on there.
Used it on 4 bikes, fitted it on various handlebars successfully. When it gets dark, it gets daily use. Its never fallen off ... or ran out of battery. I usually use it as a 2nd light.
Pros :
* Its a really nice looking light - extremely sleek.
* Feels well made.
* The light is OK for use as a secondary "running light"
* The "bike symbol" part (I very rarely turn on), but it was useful in town on shared use paths at night when approaching pedestrians with headphones on - who saw the light.
* Good battery life
Cons :
* Expensive
* Heavy
* Charging cable - why not just a micro-USB ?
* The bracket - feels a bit "iffy" - and the light shakes about.
(Note - this is the 2nd bracket design that was shipped out as a replacement).
* The "Bike Symbol" light is a gimmick IMHO - it doesn't appear to work well under street lights or on wet roads - I don't think it has much safety contribution.
Hi rxpell,
I'm Alberto, part of the Blaze team. Firstly, thank you very much for supporting us on Kickstarter and for the feedback, take it all into account.
Regarding what I think is your key criticism of the light - the laser being a gimmick - I have to disagree. As you maybe know, every few months we survey Laserlight riders about their experience with the light an general feedback. The overwhelming majority of it has been positive; people telling us how "cars stopped from turning across me" or "how buses pulled out and then stopped because they saw the light". Recently, we also did rigorous testing with a third party comparing the light's effectiveness to that of other lights. Unable to share the results for the moment, but they'll be coming soon.
That's not to say we think the light is panacea. It obviously isn't and there are variables, such as the direction the driver's looking in, that we can't control. And like you've noticed, on wet ground, the laser is not very visible from the position of the riders or traffic travelling in the same direction. When the road is wet it's smoother and acts like a bit of a mirror, reflecting nearly all of the beam forward. This is why it's less visible from the source but more so for oncoming traffic, for example.
Thank you very much again for your feedback and support from everyone at Blaze.
Alberto
I've had a bit of history with this light. Here's how it ended.
In one way I'm glad the light is totalled. It means I can buy a new light without thinking its an extravagance. I'll also make sure I don't buy a light that needs a couple of rubber bands to hold it securely onto the bracket.
That's a really poor response from Blaze
I've got one too ... its a nice enough light ... but I did notice over the winter that it sometimes had condensation in it too.
Looks like a good idea but the part of the demo video at 25 seconds in makes me cringe. Undertaking a car which has already started to turn in. Considering its for a safety product, its not a great example of how to ride.
But if it saves one life it is worth it
I really wanted to like this light when I saw the light at London cycle show with Emily herself there. I wanted to buy one just because of Emily but I didn't because I just didn't think it will really make people see me coming because I am not convinced.
But obviously it has attracted a lot of people for her to make that £1m mark.
I think I'll stick with my Exposure Max D.
I backed the original kickstarter fund raising and am delighted to see the project grow so rapidly. That said, I scarcely use mine after I found other pedestrians & cyclists get distracted by it....
I should add that my backing extended to a first batch light for 50 quid !
This product makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable. I think (and it's only my opinion) that this puts some cyclist into a false sense of security. 'Because there is a green image of a bike on the ground, I'm not going to get taken out by a vehicle turning left'.
I remain unconvinced. Do motorists and pedestrians have their eyes fixed on the tarmac (looking down instead of ahead)? and from what I've seen, the image doesn't work on wet ground
If it does reduce accidents though, then it has to be a good thing....and good on Emily for getting this going in such a short period of time
'Make' or 'profit'. That's the key.
A number of less-than-favourable in-depth reviews by reputable folks convinced me this is not a good/useful product in the real world, but hey ho.
For my money, a £50 set of Lezyne Power Drive/Micro Drive grab attention at football-pitch distances. A few drivers have pulled over to say as much and ask what they were.
I'm sure other brands are available.
Emily hasn't 'made' a million, she's taken a million in revenue. Very very different concepts. Entrepreneurs don't tend to make a million for many years, if ever. Its a huge landmark.
Awesome her sales have reach the big 7 figures though!