Today, around 1.3 billion people live with a significant disability. This represents 16% of the world’s population – or 1 in 6 of us. For many people who are paralyzed due to a spinal cord injury being able to move one’s hands is on the top of the wish list, in fact long before wishing to be able to walk. To help people carry out simple yet life-changing day-to-day tasks with their hands is what drives Sofie and her team. They have developed a robotic glove to help people who are struggling to grip.
Ever since Sofie was a child she has been curious, daring, and unafraid of challenging her boundaries. And tech has always been an interest. Today she works with rocket science, which she has adapted to life on Earth.
When she started an industrial ‘star design’ course at the Faculty of Engineering in Lund, she got the chance to collaborate with NASA in Houston on a project that aimed to help man get to and work on Mars.
When Sofie learned more about what happens to the human body as we travel to space, she was intrigued. In particular, she was curious about what happens to our muscles and their strength :
– I was interested in how we better prepare ourselves for the weakening of our muscles that happens when we move around in space, she says. I learned that some astronauts float around with tennis balls in their hands to keep their hand strength and fine motor skills. I was surprised to see that there were no other solutions to that problem.
Gripping is one of the most important human features.
To the Drawing Table
“What if you could solve it”, she thought. Sofie’s mind started to work, and she started sketching. Her idea was some a glove: “What if you could simulate gravity when you don’t have it – then when you landed or went on a spacewalk, the glove would do the opposite, namely, give you artificial strength?”, she thought.
The idea of the robotic glove started to take shape.
–I have family members with rheumatism, and I figured; what if I would bring this idea and technology down to earth?
Sofie had always known that she wanted to make a difference and do something with a purpose. This was it. Her master’s thesis came to be about using design for people on earth with functional challenges :
–I would use design to minimize the feeling of being limited as well as maximize the function artificially, she says.
From, talking to potential users in patient organizations she understood that moving smoothly and without something heavy or clumsy on your hands was important for people’s self-confidence and self-worth.
[Meet Sofie and see how it works –That was my starting point, she says. The glove had to be lightweight and flexible.
Once her thesis was done, she got positive responses from the job market. But she decided to pursue her idea:
– I realized I had to pursue my idea. I thought: “If I don’t do it now, I will regret it”, she says and smiles.
She knew she had to see if she could start a business based on her invention:
– I joined Venture lab, the day before I graduated.
As a designer and engineer, she would now learn about entrepreneurship :
– I looked for help in various places and got support from different people. I had no idea what it meant to run a company; business ideas, vision, budget, plans…All of this was new to me.
Professional Robotics Development in Denmark
– I wanted to join a competition, but to do that, I needed a team. I asked a few friends to join me, and they did. We participated in Odense University Startup World Cup, in Denmark – and were awarded, Sofie says. Once there, we found out about The Odense Robotics StartUp Hub. Odense Robotics is kind of like an Ideon for Robotics and one of the world’s leading clusters for robotics. Only five startups were accepted to their 18-month program and were happy to be able to join.
In Odense, Sofie’s company, Tendo, formed connections, with among others medical staff, and got support in specific tech areas that could help them advance their solution. They also learned more about project planning (SCRUM, agile development) as well as regulation.
–It was an exciting environment, with experts in robotics. Where we worked – in the middle of the showroom – you could see different sorts of robots everywhere, from machines to co-bots. Check out Sofie and her team in Odense.
Tech and Robotics Help Find a Way
To Sofie, robotics and tech in general, are a resource :
– It is most of all a way for me to find solutions to what I am looking to do – find a revolutionary way of helping people. And she has found a way: Using robotics, the team developed a robotic glove, an exoskeleton, that you wear to be able to grip and release things. The Tendo product, OneGrip, uses smart sensors and is controlled intuitively by the body’s own movements. The magic: it can assist a movement to which the body itself cannot respond. The glove does not need any remote controls or buttons.
– Soon, we will be able to make similar support for more body parts with the same core technology.
Yesterday, Inventor, Today Also CEO
Today, Sofie is the CEO and runs the day-to-day business.
Her role today is dominated by the fact that Tendo now is on the stock market (Spotlight since April 2022). She was a bit hesitant about being the CEO taking Tendo to the stock market; when she was challenged by adviser and business coach Richard Mosell who said ”of course, you can be a stock market CEO. Why not? You have learned new things all the time. Like rocket science”, she realized that she could.
– These days I spend a lot of time on reports, presentations, interviews, acquiring funds, representation, investor relations, and communication.
She is also responsible for the clinical studies that Tendo is undertaking and involved in the day-to-day business; anything from product development, marketing to regulatory work.
– Currently, we are growing and recruiting, says Sofie. We focus on the Nordics and fine-tuning our tailormade products. Now, we focus on helping people with spinal cord injuries and adapting the product to fit specific needs. The next step will be to develop a more generic product.
Lots of Learnings and Inspiration Every Day
The role of the entrepreneur takes you places you had never considered going before:
– You constantly must challenge yourself and learn new things, Sofie says. There are so many new areas that I have forced myself to learn about.
What inspires her the most about her work is seeing how people use the product and how much they enjoy it :
– It is when I see a mother picking up her kids’ toys or a man being able to lift a glass, that I realize how much we can change people’s lives, she says. The feedback we get from clients is invaluable. We discover new ways in which our product is used. This makes me and my team tick.
How it works: Check out Sofie’s TED Video talk on Youtube.
The Team
Pontus, Vice President of Engineering with an overall product responsibility
Maria, QA/RA Manager
Peter, Commercial Lead (sales and marketing)
Joe, Head of Design
Damien, Senior Embedded Software Engineer
Alessia – CEO/administrative assistant
