Duisburg startups: Ichó

Ichó is an innovative therapy ball that activates the senses of people with conditions such as dementia, multiple sclerosis, or autism and gives them back quality of life. It communicates non-verbally and bridges the symptoms of illness to open up access to the world around them. Co-founder Eleftherios tells us about their journey.

Where did the idea come from? What drove you?

Our first motivation was personal stories. Several of our grandparents had dementia, and at the same time (around 2014) our university in Düsseldorf was offering a research project called “Nutzerwelten”. The project was about developing digital solutions for people with dementia. There, we first got to grips with what the condition means, what therapy options exist, and how to deal with affected family members. The idea for ichó grew out of field studies and conversations in that context. Since the response was quite positive, we started to make ichó a reality – through the Social Impact Lab, later investors, and founding our startup.

What did you do before?

At the very beginning, Steffen, Mario, and I came together in the research project through our degree programs in electrical engineering and communication design. Alkje joined us later when we founded the company; above all, she brought important business expertise that we had been missing. The four of us are the founding team. We all have different backgrounds and had already completed vocational training before our studies. What mattered was that everyone brought exactly the right puzzle piece of knowledge and skills to develop ichó back then and to sell it now. Investors in startups always invest in the team, too. I think that’s where we were always able to score.

Where are you right now?

Whenever I walk through our offices, I find it interesting to see what we’ve actually built. Company structures – a warehouse, marketing, new employees, the right cooperation partners – all in quite a short time. Ichó is no longer just a prototype; it’s been a series product for a while now. The best metric for me is that the therapy ball has received an incredibly good response. A very large share of the first product testers pre-ordered ichó, and hardly anyone dropped out.
Right now, we’re continuing to work on sales for the future, but there are also longer-running processes ahead, such as approval by health insurers. Ichó currently offers around 42 applications, but we have a lot more planned. The ball contains technology that isn’t even being used yet. That’s intentional, of course, so we can offer even more features with the next technical update.

What do you want to achieve? What’s your purpose?

It’s simple: for us, ichó is about participation and improving quality of life. We use digitalization and technology to create new ways of reaching people with impairments – and new ways for them to reach the world. We give them and their families back their joy in life by creating an interface that bridges their illness. Ichó also helps ease the burden on care staff.

What are your current challenges?

Our main focus right now is clearly on selling ichó. Of course, COVID was and still is an obstacle for us. There were facilities that were convinced by the product but had to put a freeze on investments. At the same time, the biggest problem for us is that we couldn’t appear in person at trade fairs or in the facilities. The ball is a product you need to have held in your hands or seen in action to fully understand it. That closed quite a few doors for us at first. We’re now working on getting sales going again through other channels.

You can find more about ichó here.

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