Origins
The idea for ExoVibe came to founder Gabriel Samlali in 2014, while he was struggling to carry a heavy box to his attic. Gabriel wondered how an elderly or disabled person would manage to complete the same task. A cursory google search for personal equipment solutions led Gabriel to exoskeletons. At the time, exoskeletons were mainly used in the healthcare and military industries, but Gabriel realized their potential for domestic and industrial applications and began to envision a multi-use exoskeleton.
Together with William Thenaers, then a fellow Electronics-ICT student, he developed the first prototype in 2017. Gabriel focused on industrial design and William on firmware. In early 2018, William and Gabriel joined the Corda Campus Incubator. It was here that the new team met Luc Thomas, who was working on his own startup in the energy industry. Excited by the second prototype Gabriel and William were working on, Luc decided to become ExoVibe’s first business angel and third founder. Together with HardTech Advisor Yoeri Renders, the founders convinced Jöry Pauwels, board member of the Osteopathic European Academic Network and CEO at Osteon Education, to join ExoVibe as Osteopatic Advisor and second business angel, rethinking an exoskeleton in a completely different way.
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