Innovator of the Week – Where Are They Now?
Melissa Thompson
CEO of Hyndsight Vision Systems
What’s new and exciting?
Hyndsight Vision Systems Inc started as a wild idea for rowers. Yes, rowers who row in skinny long boats called sculls. While volunteering at the Head of the Charles regatta as a safety launch driver founder Melissa Thompson saw a need to develop camera and monitor systems because rowers row backward. After 2 years of development, we got going and people came to us and asked if they could use it for monitoring horses in transit or foaling, for waterski monitoring, for RV as a backup system, for construction safety, and the answer was always a resounding yes. We have grown year after year by over 200% and are now selling product worldwide and through 87 retailers including national chains. We’ve continued to innovate and develop add-on products all that focus on providing safety monitoring for anything that matters. People need visibility in strange places and our product is on everything from the wings of crop duster airplanes to 80 foot high cranes and even personal use by home swimming pools. Because there are no wires, no internet, no installation required, the systems are totally portable and can be taken from one location to another. You can hook up to four cameras, they are tough rugged and durable and with a sunlight readable monitor and full recording model available, Hyndsight serves an unmet need for thousands. There is no other system like it and our patent pending technologies offer users with a multifunctional product opportunity.
Another exciting tidbit, Hydsight won top innovation at the International Product Expo in Pittsburgh, PA in June as well as 4 gold medals for top innovation!
What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned in the last year?
Raising capital is by far the biggest challenge. You are too small for VC funding or banks and finding angels is a tough go. I have pitched from coast to coast and love talking about the product and people love the story and the product but not enough to invest. We do have a group in the process of due diligence now but we will see how much they contribute
What’s the next year going to look like?
We have a new product coming in a few weeks called CAPTURE which is a recording version of our current product. It is awesome and offers the user the ability to have 4 cameras record simultaneously while still providing hi definition real time video stream. Other great features have also been added. If funding arrives, we will hire 15 new people so Hyndsight will be a very different company in the next year.
Check out Hyndsight Vision Systems’ original Innovator of the Week profile here.