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Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The Pitch
Flagsuit transforms NASA gloves into pressure suit business
By Brendan Lynch
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In 2007, Peter Homer developed a pair of gloves for a NASA contest — and won $200,000 for his effort. He has since launched Flagsuit LLC, a Southwest Harbor, Maine-based startup developing pressure suits for astronauts that also has application as a medical device.
“I started with the hands, and now I’m working on the whole thing,” Homer said.
Homer designed the gloves with soft joints, rather than metal fixtures — making them more flexible, so the wearer could move with less effort. The technique also made the gloves more comfortable and cheaper to make, Homer said.
As a one-man startup Flagsuit has its eyes on making pressure suits, worn under spacesuits, for the space tourism industry, which Homer sees growing in the next two years. In the meantime, the startup plans to make money selling the suit as a medical device taking the place of a hyperbaric chamber.
Founder
Homer, with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master’s degree in structural engineering from Stanford University, worked for about 10 years as an engineer on communications satellites at Grumman Aerospace, Lockheed Martin Corp. and GE Astrospace.
Funding
In addition to the $200,000 from NASA, Flagsuit has received $24,000 in three seed grants from the Maine Technology Institute. Homer is now looking for $1.2 million in angel funding in two rounds. Homer plans to use the first $600,000 to build a prototype of the hyperbaric suit and bring it to market. The remaining $600,000 would be used to ramp up manufacturing and marketing.
Strategy
The startup is focusing on developing a prototype suit for use as a wearable substitute for hyperbaric chambers used to treat conditions such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, stroke and autism.
Competition
Flagsuit’s medical device business competes against hyperbaric chamber manufacturers like Certec of France and Hyperbaric Technologies Inc. The market for astronaut gear may seem as if it would have high barriers to entry, especially for a one-man company in the Almost-Canada section of Maine. But, Homer notes, traditional aerospace companies aren’t built for the commercial sector, instead relying on long-term, cost-plus contracts from NASA. “That’s my way of getting in the door. Traditional companies aren’t addressing the commercial market,” he said.
MHT does not endorse the companies or technologies featured in The Pitch. Does your company have an interesting story to tell? Go to www.masshightech.com/pitch
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