Chirag Jagtiani, the founder of spotNsave, is a global citizen. Originally from Taiwan, he grew up in Africa, studied in India, worked in Europe and is now based in Guangzhou, China.
With 10 years of experience in the telecom field, Chirag has worked for the likes of Phillips, Dell, Accenture and Tough Shield. After working extensively with mobile app partners in telecom providers in Asia, the Middle East and Europe, Chirag founded spotNsave in September 2013 and is now crowdsourcing funds on Indiegogo to get his product off the ground.
What is your startup?
spotNsave is a wearable security device. With the click of a button, your friends can be alerted if you are in any danger. The device consists of a Bluetooth wristband with a SOS button and an emergency app on your smartphone. The app can send location information to your friends in the event of an unfortunate incident
How did you come up with this idea?
In 2005, someone I know was kidnapped while traveling overseas. That changed my entire life and ever since then, I’ve always wanted to do something related to personal security. I wanted to build a security device but didn’t know how to do it. Then, when I was working with Accenture, we were consulting for Boston Scientific for a global pacemaker device. The pacemaker was connected to a phone via Bluetooth and that’s when it struck me – if a heart can have a Bluetooth device why couldn’t a wrist have the same? That instilled the confidence to begin building something like spotNsave.
Who are you targeting and how big is the market in HK/Asia?
Our target audience encompasses women, old age homes, call centers, joggers, bikers, people working in construction sites, oil rigs. We could even target schools for the visually impaired, since the band is also designed to work as an incoming call alerter. Main Regions where security is an issue are Indonesia and the Indian sub-continent.
What are your futures plans for your startup?
I want to take spotNsave to the top and have it known as the best SOS app in the industry. I will be adding a lot of more features, taking security to the next level. With my new additions to the app I will also be filing for a patent. With the recently launched crowd funding campaign, I am hoping to get funding and sales that will allow me to hire more engineers and deliver the product faster.
1 Benefit and 1 Challenge in the HK startup scene?
It’s very easy to set up banking and to register your company in Hong Kong. No challenges so far.
Chirag Jagtiani on Startbase.HK: Chirag Jagtiani
spotNsave on Startbase.HK: spotNsave
