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Kittiwig: making your hair part of you again
Maybole, Scotland, United Kingdom
Aim
To validate a technical process for saving cancer patients own hair during treatment, created into a personalised wig
Who are we?
Kittiwig are a start-up company looking to manufacture and fit specialist wigs for people experiencing medical hair loss.
*Wigs made from people's own hair or from known donor(s)
How you can help?
Kittiwig are looking to raise £2,000 with crowdfunding to validate our processes
Background
Cancer treatment, although lifesaving it can be life changing.
1 in 2 people born after 1960 will be touched by cancer in their lifetime. Due to the success of cancer treatments more people are beating cancer but all too often many lose their hair as a result.
Hair loss is not life threatening but is can be life altering. Having to deal with the trauma of a sudden and dramatic change in appearance can be difficult to deal with emotionally.
Kittiwig want to validate a technical process to capture cancer patients' own hair (>4") which we will create into a personalised wig (hairpiece).
Currently NHS cancer patients are only entitled to synthetic wigs, which have known inherent problems relating to heat dissipation (making the head sweaty), but also frizzing when exposed to heat (e.g. opening an oven door).
It is difficult to watch your hair fall out, and can leave many feeling helpless. This is where Kittiwig want to empower people receiving cancer treatment, and give them a positive option during a difficult time in their life.
Kittiwig's story
Kittiwig's founder Karena Moore-Millar lost her hair to alopecia whilst serving in the Royal Air Force (or as she likes to call it 'The Hair Force'!). It was Karena's personal experiences with wearing wigs which sowed the seeds for Kittiwig today.
Karena left the RAF in 2005 and went back to University to do a degree in product design, and later PhD research into wig technology.
After completing a Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship, Karena decided to dive (head first!) into the world of business and set up Kittiwig Ltd in Aug 2016.
Current support
Karena has continued support from West Coast Accelerator founded by Sir Tom Hunter.
Heropreneurs - entrepreneurial mentorship for ex-members of the Armed Forces
University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Entrepreneurial Network
Zero Waste Scotland - business development
Previous financial support
Santander students award
Scottish Institute of Remanufacturing (SIR)
Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE)
How will the money be spent?
Kittiwig need £2,000 initially to test material and manufacturing processes, resulting in our first working prototype.
Rewards
1) All pledges between £20 - £49 will have their name (or company's name) posted on our 'ambassadors wall'
2) For pledges between £50 - £99 will have their name (or company's name) posted on our 'ambassadors wall' plus a Kittiwig scarf or multi-use headscarf - posted within the UK only
3) For a pledge of £100+ you will receive all of the above plus a Kittiwig T-shirt - posted within the UK only
How to get involved?
Visit our website www.kittiwig.com
Direct email: [email protected]
Facebook: @kittiwig
Twitter: @kittiwigltd
Note: we are accepting hair donations (>4") and actively looking for pioneers to take part in our trials
FAQ
Why do you need my pledge?
Kittiwig are a start-up company and are yet to prove their idea is a viable product/service. The owner is looking to validate the offering and see if there is a market need for this product. We need your pledge to help refine our processes and bring the product/service to market
How will we know what you are spending this money on?
Kittiwig invites anyone to contact us, and become an active member in our social groups, so we can update you on our progress. Kittiwig will share updates and demonstrate how the money is being put to work to help others.
This project successfully funded on 28th March 2018