The revolutionary way of travelling

Whether single or double stroller for siblings – thanks to the Bumprider Connect, parents no longer have to spend a lot of time and effort: two strollers can quickly and easily be converted to one through an automatic, magnetically operated locking system. With this invention, the Swedish company was the trade fair highlight from the word go, and received the Innovation Award in the “World of Moving Kids” category. What does this success mean for Bumprider? And what potential do the trade fair and the Innovation Award offer young companies? We spoke with CEO Nicklas Lindblad on this topic.

What inspired you to make your innovative and practical siblings pram? And what made you apply for the Kind + Jugend Innovation Award?

Most people know us for our trittbrett Bumprider Original that can be attached to all strollers in the market. Many of our distributors encouraged us to invent more products, especially a good pocket stroller. We started with the goal to invent the best Pocket stroller ever made – from a quality perspective and with discerning choice of materials. We furthermore made extremely careful preliminary studies to be sure that we can attract not only today’s but also tomorrow’s customers by adding smart technology integrated in the stroller to make life easier for users. Once we knew that we have fulfilled all those customer’s requirements from around the globe, to just make the very best stroller, we wanted to challenge ourselves and the industry by asking the following question: “What is a sibling/twin/double stroller? And why must they be so big and unpractical?” We could see the disadvantage of big and wide twin strollers and the difficulties to pass narrow doors, elevators, busses or trains. We know that parents even change their car to to fit huge strollers. So the idea took place to create a unique system that allows you to choose wheter you want to go single or double.

The result was named “Bumprider Connect”: the first and only stroller in the world with an magnetic and automatic interlocking system. With this system, you simply connect your stroller with another one in a second and only when you need it. You can also use the Connect system to add your favorite Bumprider accessories, like our SidePack or SideBag. This also improves the stability of the stroller as we distribute the extra weight of the accessories on the side and in a lower position.

Your presentation paid off! During the trade show, your pram design was one of the highlights and has been honoured with the Innovation Award in the “World of Moving Kids”category. What does this distinction mean to you and your company?

The Kind & Jugend Innovation Award is THE Award. For us and the whole business, this is the most prestigeous award in the global baby industry. This award is for sure equivalent to be the baby business World Championship Gold Medal. Receiving such an award encourages us to continue designing tomorrow’s products and to invest in uniqueness and technical solutions to well-known problems.

The prize also gives us joy and recognition that we have succeeded in taking an unconventional idea from our design and development department to the jury’s and the market’s heart.

How exactly does the convertion function?

The interlocking system is equipped with magnets to attract the strollers or accessories to one another. But it’s not the magnets that keep them together. Once the magnets touch, they immediately and automatically activate the physically locks. There are no “second” actions or buttons to push, it’s all extremely well function and automatically.

You have been a participant in Kind + Jugend for several years now. Please share some of your experiences with us.

After ten years at Kind & Jugend, we can see that most of our Bumprider distributors, in more than thirty countries, have met us in Cologne. So this is the meeting point for all first meetings.

In your eyes, what is the advantage of Kind + Jugend and the participation in the Innovation Award?

Cologne as a city is business friendly and offers a genuine athmosphere. The show is well organized. The most important thing is that this is the largest trade show in the baby business and all relevant buyers and brands are there.

The Innovation Award is the best known award in the world. If you win, everyone in the business will know. It’s a challenge for designers and engineers and it pushes us to make smarter products.

Do you have any new ideas for 2019? Are there any new innovative products under construction or in the pipeline?

Yes! We have a couple of very smart products in different categories which will be revealed during Kind + Jugend 2019. We hope that those inventions will both create a smile on the observer and make life easier for parents and babies. We will also show the next Connect stroller.

In general, how do you assess the developments in the pram segment? What trends await us this year?

I believe that our patented interlocking system is already a strong trend this year. During the next two years, we will also see more smart technology and several e-strollers as many of us are already in the design or prototype stage. The challenge will be to make a good stroller with a well integrated technology rather than a shortcut by adding an electrical motor to an existing stroller.