A year ago, at CES, I broke out the snark-hammer on 444, a startup trying to make a “smart” pepper spray device. I ran into the same company again at CES this year. To my surprise, he had inked a major partnership, co-development and co-branding deal with Mace, one of the biggest names in sprayable self-defense.
444Its agreement with Mace is “a preliminary exclusivity agreement for the purpose of jointly developing and commercializing a smart pepper spray device equipped with GPS and Bluetooth that sends current location to emergency contacts when deployed.”
“We were here at CES last year, starting with a rough 3D print showing and an example PCBA board. We made a lot of connections and got some news articles from TechCrunch and more,” says Logan Nash, co-founder at 444. “The wind just got the idea out there in the self-defense industry. A few months after CES, Mace contacted us and we have built a great relationship with them and completed our partnership.”
The samples 444 had on their stand were pre-production samples that looked great: Great design, well made and almost ready to go into production. The team tells me they hope to start production development in the coming months.
“We did a lot of customer discovery to understand exactly what the consumer wants and needs. One of the things we kept hearing was that users want a sleek, aesthetically appealing device. So that’s what we have here. A great device with great colors and high quality, it’s very powerful. It has a metal frame to hold everything together,” explains Nash. “But we also wanted longevity for the device. If the user applies their pepper spray, they can unscrew the back and replace the canister so it’s ready for another use.”
The replaceable cartridge model is new. Most pepper sprays are cheap disposable devices, but 444’s offering is a premium product that will cost much more than $14 for two devices you can order on Amazon. It’s likely to be priced between $75-$100, the team tells TechCrunch, so reusability of the device and electronics is crucial.
You can open the back of the 444 device and replace the Mace canister if the device is deployed. Image credit: TechCrunch / Haje Kamps
The company is quick to share that even if you forget to charge the device, the Mace accessory will still work – that’s fully mechanical – although apparently the GPS notification system on your circle of support won’t be activated.
“When you turn on the device, pepper spray comes out. It also sends a signal to your phone, which will send your current – and live – location to a designated emergency contact, be it mom, dad, brother, sister, you name it,” says Nash. “This place is free. For an additional subscription, the app will connect you to a 24-hour emergency hotline, which will then direct you to local authorities, whether that’s police dispatchers or campus security.”
As a company, Mace had a couple of years. From a market cap of $46 million in April 2021, today the company is worth less than $2.5 million. It makes sense that the company is turning to new innovators to strengthen its relevance in the market.
“The Mace Brand is very excited about this first-of-its-kind smart product for Mace. The spray is the most advanced of its kind and we believe it is the most significant launch in the industry in decades,” wrote Sanjay Singh, President and CEO of Mace Brand in a press statement. “This product is perfect for those who value personal security while looking for the most technologically advanced product. The premium product design should appeal to consumers on the go and at home.”
I’ll have the humble pie for one, please, sir.
Let me be the first to say that I really did not see this coming. I was really surprised that they reminded me of the company at all and doubly confused that they were still around. I missed something – and it’s kind of refreshing to be reminded of it in a way like meeting the founders at the same trade show a year later.
I often end up seeing startups at CES that seem completely pointless (this year, my eyes were drawn back to Direction 9. If they get acquired by Samsung by next year, I guess I really need to reevaluate my role as an analyst) and years later seeing startups doing dumb things makes me a little weary.
This serves as a great reminder that, for true entrepreneurs, it takes more than a sneaky post from a thoughtful blogger to encourage them to throw in the towel. Consider this my “Hey, I’m wrong at least 20% of the time” confession, and I’m curious to see where 444 goes from here.
