A tech company that developed a ‘smart’ white cane that detects obstacles and warns visually impaired users has raised £1.5m investment. WeWALK’s white stick vibrates when it finds something in the way, thanks to an ultrasonic sensor. A linked smartphone app provides a voice assistant which can give directions to help owners explore new spaces.
Co-founder Kürşat Ceylan has been blind from birth. “WeWALK’s products are transforming the lives of visually impaired people across the world by dramatically improving their mobility,” he said.
“We want to scale our business to reach a wider audience and further develop our technology so it can be used by other groups such as elderly people who also face mobility-related challenges.”
The company’s headquarters are in the UK. An advisory board includes Professor Washington Ochieng of Imperial College London and Robin Spinks, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) strategic lead, innovation partnerships. The products are approved by US and EU safety regulators.
WeWALK plans to use the investment to establish new research and development (R&D) partnerships. It hopes to raise a further £500,000 through equity crowdfunding, where individual investors become shareholders. The firm aims for 130,000 users by 2027.