Joel Gibbard, MBE, Co-Founder, OpenBionics at OpenBionics Lab, Bristol, England
Entrepreneur and engineer Joel Gibbard, MBE uses his passion for robotics to build bionic arms, turning disabilities into superpowers. After learning about 3D printing and robotics at school, Gibbard co-founded it OpenBionics in 2014 to marry the two technologies and disrupt outdated models of prosthetic devices. Based in Bristol, England, the company created the first fully integrated 3D printed bionic prosthesis with its Hero Arm, which fits from below the elbow. Gibbard and his co-founder, Samantha Payne, a former journalist, are leading a massive shift in the way prosthetics are perceived – by those who wear them and others.
Gibbard and his team recently fitted two wounded Ukrainian soldiers with prosthetics after being approached by a non-profit organization that thought the Hero Arms could play a role in helping their customers be treated like heroes.
Amy Guttmann: How is the Hero Arm different?
Joel Gibbard: We take the measurements and dimensions and 3D print something ready to fit the patient. Whereas traditionally a local prosthetist would order several components and then build a prosthesis. The Hero Arms is the lightest bionic arm available. It is made of nylon. And ours is an integrated product. That means we can have integrated designs with interchangeable covers that have a powerful aesthetic that helps people feel confident.
Guttman: What about the functionality?
Gibbard: The functionality is a multi-grip bionic hand, so that the fingers can move independently. You can have different grip modes to perform different tasks. This is similar to some of the more traditional hands that just open and close.
Guttman: How did you come up with the idea for different colored covers and characters from Marvel, Disney and Star Wars?
Gibbard: When we started designing the Hero Arm, we took a user-centric approach; we interviewed hundreds of people with upper extremity differences and began to understand their needs. We have learned that people with upper limb anomalies often have the challenge of being confident in themselves and the way they perceive their limb differences. We realized that if you design it right, the prosthesis can help people see their limb difference in a really positive light. It can also help others see their limb difference in a positive light.
Guttman: Biggest surprise?
Gibbard: There’s a lot of innovation in this space. The problem is that many of those innovations don’t make it to market because it’s hard to get through the medical regulations and all the fees and financials. The other thing that surprised me was that it took a long time for 3D printing and design technologies to reach this sector. Our company was one of the first pioneers to really introduce 3D technology to this industry.
Guttman: How did you find your co-founder?
Gibbard: I had started a project to make a 3D printed robotic hand. It was very, very early at that stage. Samantha interviewed tech startups and she was passionate about doing things with a positive social benefit. She had been working on wearable technology. It was the perfect marriage of the technical expertise on my side and on her side, the drive to do something that would have a positive social impact. We benefited from her communication skills – she was able to express clearly what we were trying to do, which helped to attract investment, win competitions, win grants and build a team.
Neither of us had a business background, but we found this opportunity. No one else did and no one else did for several years.
Guttman: How did you raise money?
Gibbard: We first raised money by participating in competitions. We entered Intel’s Make It Wearable contest and won about $250,000. We also entered Robotics for Good in the UAE and won, earning us $1 million. So in the beginning we got substantial non-diluted funding. In 2017/18, we initiated equity investments and raised more than $10 million from a combination of non-dilutive sources and investors.
Guttman: Do you wish you had a co-founder or advisor with experience building a business?
Gibbard: I think it would have made a difference to us if we had someone with specific industry experience from the start. It probably would have shortened some mistakes for us. We have put the user at the center of our design and business and we are very proud of that, but it also meant that we did not focus so much on the needs of other key stakeholders in the process, such as clinical professionals and payers and their requirements . We’ve managed to make changes to make sure we’re responding effectively to their needs, but if we had someone with business experience and industry-specific experience, it would have helped us draw some of those conclusions more quickly. My advice is to talk to as many experts as possible.
Guttman: What advice do you have regarding financing?
Gibbard: Strive for non-binding financing. We’ve won a lot of prize money in some cases because ours is an extremely visceral product that people immediately understand the impact of.
OpenBionics has offices in Bristol, Denver and Heidelberg. They currently distribute in the UK, US, France, Germany and Australia with plans to expand distribution to ten more countries.
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