Innovation Insights: Springrose

The 2023 Remarkable US cohort featured six exceptional startups and we're highlighting one each week for the next six weeks. And at last week's Remarkable Tech Summit, Nicole Cuervo's company, Springrose, won the first-ever $20,000 Solly Rodan Award.

"It's an honor to have been selected for this award among so many thoughtful and life-changing startups," Ms. Cuervo shared. "People with disabilities deserve to get dressed painlessly, independently, and with dignity. This award will help us bring more innovative products to market, serving more people with diverse needs." 

To celebrate this win and highlight Springrose's work, check out this recent Q&A Ms. Cuervo had with the global Remarkable team earlier this year.
What is your startup and who is the target market?
At Springrose, we design adaptive intimate apparel that improves quality of life for the 200M+ women worldwide who have limited mobility. Our products help women get dressed quickly, painlessly, and independently, thereby restoring dignity and agency every day. The adaptive apparel market is expected to reach $400B globally by 2026.

How have you engaged end-users in the development of Springrose?
Our product was co-developed with 500+ women and 35+ clinicians across the discovery, development, and testing process. They’ve been involved every step of the way and every product detail comes from either a user or a clinician partner.

Can you share some success stories or accomplishments that you’ve achieved since launching?
Some customer success stories include women who have chronic pain or only one mobile arm being able to get dressed independently or experiencing less pain while getting dressed or undressed.

What sets your startup apart from competitors?
What sets us apart is that our product does not compromise on function, beauty, or support. Existing adaptive bras have at least two of the following problems:

1. Only work for minor forms of limited mobility or dexterity;
2. Are size-limited;
3. Are unsupportive;
4. Are unattractive; and
5. Are unfriendly for women with a pacemaker, defibrillator, or other implants because they use magnets.

What advice would you give to aspiring disability tech entrepreneurs?
Don’t design in isolation and don’t put too much weight on your own experience when developing solutions. Make sure you talk to as many people as possible because it’s important to not design for a single story. Everyone’s experience is unique, but there are common threads that will emerge as you talk to people. Design for that shared experience to best serve the people you want to support.

What does it mean to you to be part of the Remarkable community?
The Remarkable community is a fun, supportive, and ambitious place where people are seeking to change the status quo for the better. Every founder is driven, thoughtful, and capable, while all the mentors and other people who support us are kind, uplifting, and experienced champions for the founders.

Where do you want your startup to be in 10 years?
In 10 years, we want to be the go-to place for adaptive intimate apparel and resources around women’s health at the intersection of disability.

For now we would love for anyone interested in joining us to reach out — whether that’s to provide input, test product, learn about roles when they become available, partner with us, or develop content.

All are welcome as we seek to improve quality of life.

Want to learn more about Springrose? Check out our Disability Tech Talk and Changing What's Possible podcast episode with Nicole Cuervo. You can also follow Springrose on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.