A Cornish startup has turned to crowdfunding to launch what it claims to be the world’s first hard shell waterproof key case.
Keebunga is looking to raise £25k through Kickstarter.com to put the case into production and test out an unusually transparent business model.
James Williams, Keebunga’s founder and director, explained: “We decided to give customers all the information they might want about our product, from where it is made to who it’s made by and a detailed breakdown of exactly how much it cost us and how much mark up we’re making.”
Williams, a committed surfer, is keenly interested in sustainability and protecting the environment. He found that in pursuing these ethics within manufacturing he was bombarded with so much conflicting information that the best way was to give customers all the facts about his products.
“There are so many decisions to make when creating a new product and often issues of ethics and sustainability are complex and not clear cut,” he said.
“In a way we went back to basics; we concentrated on great design, chose the best materials for the job and created a product that would last by making it easy to maintain by supplying replacements parts from our spares shop.
“We then searched tirelessly until we found the right manufacturing partner, which happened to be a Company in Bangalore who make quality components for clients such as Bentley, Victorinox and Leatherman. They also happen to have a reasonably solid Social Responsibility Policy. Essentially we are proud of what’s been created so are happy to share that information.
“We made our choices about how we went forward and now we are giving our customers the ability to choose too.”
For more details and to back the campaign, click here.
