New Albany-based LOCTOTE™ raises $1.1 Million

Written by Innovate New Albany@InnovateNA8 years ago

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Busy individuals who need to keep their personal belongings safe and accessible will soon have a new option: LOCTOTE™ bags.

Created by LOCTOTE™ Industrial Bag Company, LOCTOTE™ bags are the toughest, most threat-resistant drawstring bags in the world. People on the go can have their essentials with them, but not necessarily on them.

Don Halpern, New Albany-based LOCTOTE™ owner, said the idea was inspired after a family vacation to St. Croix in 2014. His wife and kids had gone back to the room for the day, but he decided to snorkel on the beach. He put his personal items in his shoe, covered it with a towel and left them on a beach chair.

“I swam out about 100 yards, and when I looked back to shore, I saw an individual shuffling through my stuff on the beach, and then walk away with something in his hand,” Don said. “I yelled to him, and swam back to shore as fast as I could, but by the time I got there, both he and my stuff were gone. This was a real downer for the vacation, and I decided that I needed a solution to prevent something like this from ever happening again.”

Unable to find an existing bag that had all the qualities he was looking for, Don decided to create it himself. He wanted a bag that would be cut and tear resistant, fasten to a stationary object, and contain a locking mechanism that couldn’t be broken, cut or torn. It would also need to be water proof, keep his credit cards and personal identification safe from digital pickpocketing, yet stylish, attractive and comfortable.

After hundreds of hours of research, countless prototypes and failed attempts, the LOCTOTE™ bag was created. In April 2016, he launched a Kickstarter campaign with a goal of raising $18,000.

“When we put it out on Kickstarter, we knew we were either going to hit on something big because we solved it, or we’d find out that we missed something or had a blind spot that was going to make it hit the floor with a thud,” Don said. “We thought through everything, we talked to so many people and did so many focus groups. I was pretty confident we had our bases covered.”

He was right. They have raised $1.1 million, and the orders are pouring in.

Per Don’s high standards and commitment to quality, LOCTOTE™ bags have the following features:

• Cut-resistant fabric that is soft, comfortable, non-abrasive, non-irritating, latex-free, gluten free and UV resistant
• Patent-pending locking strap
• Heavy duty customizable combination lock, stored securely behind the leather LOCTOTE logo patch
• Nylon lock strap, which resides in a hidden channel constructed between layers of the extreme cut-resistant fabric until you need to use it.
• Large water resistant internal pocket lined with a certified RFID blocking material, which protects cards from “electronic pick-pocketing”
• Lightweight and comfortable
• Foldable, packable, wrinkle resistant and hand-washable

LOCTOTE™ bags are a perfect cross between a sling bag and a safe. They can be secured to a stationary object, such as a fence, beach chair, park bench or barstool. The bags come in steel grey or sunsplash orange, with a choice of six rope colors. It measures 18 inches long by 14 inches wide.

When the Kickstarter campaign ended, they moved the campaign to Indiegogo. LOCTOTE™ is currently fulfilling orders for their crowd-funding backers, but the bags can be preordered on their website, and should be ready for delivery by this fall.

For more information about LOCTOTE™ bags, please visit their website at http://loctote.com.

Innovate New Albany, the city’s incubator for technology startups, entrepreneurs and small businesses, features 16,000 square feet of space within the New Albany Business Park’s Signature Office Building, 8000 Walton Parkway.