Canada's Taken Charge of Innovation in Wearables Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa - 3 cities you could visit in one day...driving in a car! But they're close in more ways than just distance. Each of these cities boasts a growing Hardware Startup and Wearables Community where entrepreneurs, startups and established companies are jumping head first into the growing wearables industry. This growth has lead to 10 Canadian hardware startups based on wearable technology Some of these wearable startups have become industry-leaders and others have grown obsolete. Discover each of these wearable […]

How will you fund your next hardware project? Funding is critical to the success of any new physical product development project. It’s one of the key ingredients on top of a great idea, a talented team, and a tight product-market fit that every company needs to push forward to market.   Physical product development is a cash flow business, necessary to get to market, manufacture, ship to customers, and scale your sales. Over 25 years, Design 1st has seen 1000+ physical product development projects move from concept to manufacturing. Each of these projects navigated funding challenges.    To help […]

Watch Design 1st clients pitch their hardware product ideas on CBC's Dragons' Den Over the past several years, Design 1st has had multiple clients pitch their product ideas on Dragons' Den.  These products have included everything from pot light covers to fitness equipment, toddler monitors to ice cream makers, dog showers and humidifiers. Watch some of our favorite client appearances on Dragons' Den below:

The first wave of new cannabis tech hardware is here. New cannabis tech products are flooding the marketplace filling brand new category niches that have never been explored. These devices include medicinal humidors, THC breathalyzers, cannabis flower analysis, metered dosing devices — plus many more. Check-out the top 10 cannabis devices making waves right now:

There are three financing models for new product design and development: Flat Fee, Hourly Fee For Service, and Reduced Fee + Equity. Searching for a product design firm to help with your new product idea is tough. Using Google or a platform like DesignRush will give you dozens of potential firms with a range of services, pricing models, and experience. The challenge is choosing the right firm that will deliver a successful project right, the first time.  Understand what finance models firms offer will help you make the right choice. […]

Product development is about bringing a product idea to market. Although product development differs by industry, it starts with an idea and moves through critical process stages that ensure even very complex products follow a realistic and successful path to market. During the last three decades, we have successfully developed for our clients, over  750+ physical products from idea through to volume manufacturing using a predictable process. Below is an example of our typical product development process template. It includes: Typical timeline to reach volume production Key activities in each stage […]