Sharp Start-Up: Adi, the Stay-Put Plate
- Editors of FitBump
- Oct 20 2014
- 0 comments
The Backstory
Karen Weiss Kart’s entrepreneurial journey began during a dinner out with her husband and then 18-month-old daughter, when things got a bit out of hand. “Within a second she was able to rip her adhesive placemat off the table,” recalls Weiss Kart, who founded the innovations company Prodigi Kids in 2013. “She hurled it in the air like a Frisbee, and out of the corner of my eye I see it land on a man seated at the table behind us. Spaghetti is dangling from his hair and his nice white dress shirt was covered with meatballs and red sauce and peas.”
The San Diego resident and mother of three had a light-bulb moment and set out to take back mealtime, formulating a plan for her invention, Adi, the Stay-Put Plate. After devouring literature on patents, manufacturing and product design, Weiss Kart, a lawyer by trade, joined a design class at the University of California, San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering. She collaborated with four students over the course of a semester, left with a prototype and worked with an L.A.-based designer last year to produce the current incarnation of the unbudgeable Adi.
The Details
In the shape of a penguin—the first character in a planned Mealtime Friends series—Adi, the Stay-Put Plate is lightweight (less than 13 ounces), eco-friendly (no BPA, phthalates or PVC) and portable. A snap-tight lid covers three deep, self-contained food compartments, each with curved sides that allow for easy spooning. The custom-sized suction forms a super-strong double grip; developed to outsmart crafty toddlers, the plate has an easy release tab situated in a corner slot that (blissfully) only parent-length fingers can reach. The result? Frustration curbed, time saved. “That’s really what brings me joy—to make someone’s life easier and bring a smile to their face,” says Weiss Kart. “Essentially you’re bringing families together.”
How to Get It
Adi, the Stay-Put Plate ($25) is available for pre-order on Kickstarter through October 30. If the campaign’s goals are met, the plate will be available widely in March 2015.
