Ones to Watch: Stowaway

Business & Finance highlights some of the top movers and shakers in Ireland.

What is it?

Stowaway is a producer of unique ceiling storage units that appeal to people who want to maximise their limited storage space. The first of its range is a bike storage unit. By utilising only the top two feet of their room height, it allows people to safely store their bikes within their home or garage.

With a 100% increase in global bike theft rates since 2008, cyclists face a huge issue when trying to find a safe and secure solution to storing their bikes. The Stowaway solves this global problem.

Who’s behind it?

Stowaway was founded by Sinéad Geraghty. For over a year, Sinéad and her product design team developed and refined the design before engaging the market last November.

In February 2015, Sinéad successfully gained a place on the Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers Programme, Phase 1. New Frontiers is Enterprise Ireland’s three-phase national entrepreneur development programme for innovative early-stage start-ups. Sinéad is now currently on Phase 3 of the programme.

Sinéad Geraghty, founder, Stowaway

How is it funded?

To date, Stowaway is self-financed with a view to taking on funding partners in the third quarter of this year.

Future plans?

A Kickstarter campaign was a fantastic global platform for Stowaway’s first product launch. Their promotional video went viral on social media with over 7.5 million views and 70,000 shares.

From this promotional campaign, Stowaway have made agreements with retailers and distributors in Canada, south east Asia and Europe.

They plan on delivering their first production run to customers and distributors by this September. To support this growth, they plan to bring in an additional three employees.