Popeto is a baby carrier that can transform into a chair harness. It’s the brainchild of Sarah Atherton, a frustrated mum of three - turned entrepreneur - who quickly realised that eating out with three small children was practically impossible.
“Firstly, we had to remove two chairs from the table (and find room for them), then find room for the double pram monstrosity! Then if we were lucky, rustle up two high chairs of a clean and safe standard, that we were comfortable placing our children in and finally, the greatest joy was wrestling our children into them!”
With the help of a friend, Sarah set about trying to solve the problem and came up with a child carrier which doubles as a self-supporting child seat.
On hearing of our track record in the nursery sector, Sarah approached us to help develop her idea through to manufacture. We started with the economics and her desired route to market, before devising a product development process to support it.
Apart from the design of the clip system, the main innovation challenge was in compliance, meeting stringent safety standards. Good we have them in the UK and ensured the final product would be one all parents would happily trust.
We worked through a full product development cycle, liaising with regulatory bodies, creating patterns, seamstress made prototypes, tooling and sourcing a manufacturer in China.
“From the first meeting with Richard and team it was obvious that they were a safe pair of hands. They walked us through the process, explained the need to exploit innovation, understand commercial aspects, address regulatory compliance and work with manufacturers. Pd-m are a creative, dedicated and focused team who are able to take products from initial idea right through to launch. They are easy to work with and professional.”
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