Liz Salcedo isn't a designer or coder. But this 29-year-old founder of Everpurse is putting technology into fashion accessories to address our pain points, starting with keeping our mobile phones charged. With both a clutch and a wallet (called Mini), Everpurse creates accessories that hold your cards and cash plus charge your phone while you’re on the go. All of that and they’re stylish, too.
A purse that charges your phone is just the beginning. "When we design something for men, we’ll be just as thoughtful about how men use their technology. Most men put their phones in their pants or jacket pockets. Then, at the end of the day, they take off their jackets and hang them in their closets. What if we put phone-charging capabilities in a jacket and wireless charging (to recharge the jacket) on the coat hanger? There’s a lot of potential in putting tech into fashion to address many universal pain points we all have, even beyond charging our phones," says Liz. Her fashion meets tech story begins with lost keys:
Liz: I didn’t start out looking a solution to charging my phone. It began with my search for a cute bag with a lot of pockets. I wanted a solution to loosing my keys in my purse. But I couldn't find a bag that looked great and would also keep me organized. That led me to start thinking about what else I wanted in my imaginary perfect bag, beyond tons of pockets.
Denise: A lot of people see something that isn’t working, but they don’t invent a product. How did you go from wishing for a better purse to actually inventing one?
Liz:
August 2011: I created my first “phone-charging” bag using modified electronic components and moldable plastic for the charging dock. I cut open the lining of my purse and sewed the technology inside. It worked, and my friends and family liked the bag so much that they started asking to pay me to retrofit their bags for them. For about a year I worked on developing the tech and perfecting the installation. I held focus groups and consulted with a number of product development firms to learn how to build something so unique.
September 2012: I launched Kickstarter and within six days the campaign hit its goal of $100,00 and reached $238,000 when the funding closed a month later.
July 2013: Our first collection was a clutch purse – one size in 14 different colors. They were big enough to hold all the essentials, but also small enough to fit into a bigger purse or briefcase. It was simple to use – women put their phone into the pocket inside the clutch and when they pulled it out, the phone was charged. We got a lot of great press and feedback. We sold out of everything a couple weeks before the holidays, which was a good problem to have.
2014: Based on the great customer feedback, our team has spent the past few months updating our products and scaling up our manufacturing. We updated our technology and original bag design to launch an entirely new line of clutches for fall 2014. We now have increased battery life (will keep you charged 48 hours) with thinner, lighter technology. The clutch is now a little larger with removable and interchangeable straps. Here’s how the new Everpurse works:
We’ve also updated our factory. Our first collection of a few thousand purses was designed and made in our office by our team of five. That was a great learning experience. Because we built everything ourselves, we understood the product inside and out. Using 3D printers we were able to do rapid (and inexpensive) prototyping. While we continue to design in house, manufacturing in our office isn’t scalable and we needed a factory to produce the product. The problem was that when we started, factories didn’t know how to build it (since we were making a very unique product). Because our team had built everything ourselves, we were able to find and teach a factory how to build the tech. We led the factories versus the factories leading us. That is an incredible advantage.
Denise: Do you get this question – why does a woman need a purse or wallet that charges her phone?
Liz: I am asked that question and my response is, “If that’s working for you, fantastic.” We are looking to make solutions that empower people, and if you have a solution that works for you, then stick with it. I’m focused on making products that fit seamlessly into women’s lives. We’re not providing a fix to something that already works. We’re providing a solution for women who are looking for a better way, or for women who don’t have any solution at all.
Denise: You launched publicly in September 2012 and your 2013 revenues were in the million-dollar range. Everpurse recently closed a seed round of under $1 million from SOS Ventures, angels, family and friends. What’s the next “big picture” move for Everpurse?
Liz: I want Everpurse to become the “intel inside” the fashion industry, enabling brands to bridge the gap between fashion and function. I want to be the tech provider, creating tech products that integrate seamlessly into accessories and products people want to buy. We believe strongly that our products need to be both useful and beautiful. We cannot sacrifice design for functionality.
People ask if I want Everpurse to become a huge brand. Although there’s potential for that, what really excites me is the potential to use technology to create incredible products with other brands. I see what can happen when two industries – tech and fashion – join together. Customers now see both their fashion and tech accessories as extensions and expressions of their personal identity. Whether you use an iPhone or an Android says a lot about how you want to be perceived. There’s so much opportunity and consumers are ready for fashion and tech to finally come together in a meaningful way.
Denise: What have you learned?
Liz: If you are passionate about something, and willing to work hard, you can achieve your goals. I didn’t start with a tech or fashion background. I studied sociology then worked for five years in HIV/social work with women and children. A lot of people wonder why such a big leap from one career to the next. Really, I am passionate about both. One of the things that excites me is being able to empower women – I loved working with women at the non-profit – I would talk with them about their goals, going back to school, taking care of their health, their kids, whatever their goals were. I love that now I'm building something that women find empowering – a solution that empowers them to stop constantly thinking about when and where they will charge their phones, and allows them to focus on the things that are important to them.
I have found that there are so many things you don’t know when you start a business. This may be especially true for me because I don’t have a tech or fashion education, but even if I had at tech background, I may not have learned how to run a business, or how to write a legal contract. You can’t know everything. So it’s important for me to be honest and humble about what I don’t know. We are building a new sector around the integration of fashion and tech so we can’ t model ourselves after someone because there isn’t an exact model. One of my biggest lessons is to always ask questions and find people who know more than I do in different areas.
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