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Victoria Hamilton, a Product Design Engineering graduate from the University of Strathclyde applied to the KickStart category in 2013 with her innovative ‘Raptor’ Knee Protector. She returned the following year and was selected as part of the Converge Challenge Top 30.
Victoria’s journey began during her final year at University, when tasked with developing a product to solve a problem. Her Dad had mentioned that his knees were painful - a result of his work as a joiner - and so the Recoil Kneepad was born!
Scientifically proven to reduce pressure, the Recoil Kneepad provides greater kneeling flexibility and improves comfort during prolonged kneeling.
“I first entered Converge in 2013, back at a stage when I honestly didn’t have a clue about how to start a business! Converge provided me with a great set of resources and workshops facilitated through a three day bootcamp. It was a fantastic experience that gave me a strong foundation to grow the business.”
Victoria has received a great amount of support from Scottish Institute for Enterprise (SIE), Strathclyde Entrepreneurial Network (SEN), Entrepreneurial Spark, Scottish EDGE, Prince’s Trust and Scottish Enterprise.
In 2016, shortly after exhibiting at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas, the Recoil Kneepad officially went on sale after securing major deals with Toolstop and Amazon in the UK. Victoria was then able to recruit some part-time staff, move into a new office and scale up on the manufacture and logistics to better meet demand. She was also named “New Entrepreneur of the Year” at the Business Women Scotland Awards.
In 2017, Victoria, a former employee of Homebase, secured a major distribution deal with the nationwide retailer for her innovative knee pad! She was also awarded a prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship to grow and scale the business.