Inventor Jordan McRae and Shawn Frayne, developer of the flutter technology (Case 12) have designed a new type of technical construction kit which makes it possible to play and power small electronic gadgets with solar energy. With this kit, even small children are able to connect some LEDs to a power source.

The mere idea of providing a construction kit with elements to harvest renewable energies as an edutainment game for adults and children is innovative and worth mentioning within the Blue Economy. But an even more important aspect is the business strategy followed by Jordan and Shawn.

They turned to the internet platform Kickstarter and published some sketches of their project in order to raise money for the final design of their product. After only a few weeks they could find over 1000 clients who pre-purchased the modules. Thus the prototyping and production of the first lot could be financed without depending on the favor of creditors or investors.

Beyond exercise, gyms have proven to be an energy-intensive business. People usually go there by car and burn calories on electricity-driven devices. Efforts have been made recently to recover the energy released by the visitors in order to find and make use of new renewable energy sources.

This was not the aim of Marcia Kilgore from Canada, she rather developed a consumer product which makes it possible to improve fitness and health simply by walking, for example while going from home to the office, from shop to shop or on the beach. Five years ago she designed a shoe with a special sole which strenghtens feet and leg muscles while protecting joints and sinews due to a shock-absorbing effect. And they look fashionable!

Marcia designed a single product with multiple benefits, combining fashion with clear benefits for health and even fun for the consumer. This brilliant combination makes her innovation worth mentioning it among Blue Economy business models.