NEWSROOM
ISpyNits solves pain point for caregivers
For many people, combining full-time work with parenting two small boys would be busy enough, thanks. But not for ISpyNits founder Kate Ricketts. This working mother added some scientific research, a crash course in entrepreneurship and the launch of her own start-up into the mix – all in the space of 18 months.
In actual fact, it was Kate’s young sons who set her on the path to launching ISpyNits, a company which supplies parents and schools with “NitKits” containing all the elements a caregiver needs to deal with a headlice outbreak. Kate had become increasingly frustrated with “the never-ending cycle of nits”, she recalls. “I knew it was probably because I was missing an egg, but my oldest is neurodiverse, and it was a real battle to get him to sit down so that I could search for them.”
Kate suspected that the real problem was not simply eradicating the lice themselves, but the numerous eggs, or “nits”, that remain even after the live lice have been killed. Although the eggs are easy enough to remove once identified, the problem is finding all these tiny timebombs in the first place – and it was this issue that Kate wanted to address.
As a former veterinary nurse, she knew that the fluorescent properties of black light (a form of UV light) can be used to confirm the presence of ringworm in animals. More research revealed that fingerprinting powder could fluoresce insect exoskeletons under the same light. On a hunch, she ordered some of this powder online and applied it to her son’s hair to see if it fluoresced the lice eggs. It worked – and her usually restless son was intrigued by finding “‘glow in the dark’ bugs!” The idea for ISpyNits Glo-Powder – a non-toxic powder which adheres to and then fluoresces the lice eggs under UV light for easy identification – was born.
This Glo-Powder now forms a crucial part of the ISpy NitKits. ISpyNits currently supplies NitKits to families and schools through their online store, but the pharmacy community is quickly coming on board to stock the products, says Kate. International markets are already on the horizon, too, with plans to roll out to Australia next year.
Kate believes this rapid rise to success would not have been possible without the support of the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE). As she works at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland (as the Schools and Community Outreach Manager), she was already familiar with CIE after “falling in love” with its Maker Space. Kate took part in CIE’s Velocity entrepreneurship development programme and subsequently won the Social category for the Velocity $100k Challenge business planning competition. This gave her a place in the Venture Lab incubator and took ISpyNits a step closer to commercial reality. “The Velocity $100K Challenge and the subsequent Venture Lab programme were key in laying out a commercial ecosystem in a digestible way, especially for a newbie in the area,” she remembers. “I’ve had to take the training wheels off and go out into the scary world of venture capitalism and capital raising; however, I’ve done that feeling confident that I’ve validated my market, and that’s due to CIE.”
Her key takeaway from her crash course in entrepreneurship has been “the age old ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ – which initially was a bit of a blessing, because I think if I knew the amount of regulatory and international trade hurdles that awaited, I might not have undertaken it,” she laughs.
Eighteen months on, ISpyNits has become a flourishing business, securing funding from the University of Auckland’s knowledge mobilisation and commercialisation company, UniServices, at the end of last year. “The support they provide has made a stressful time much easier,” enthuses Kate. “It feels like you have a true partner to bounce ideas off, and that is so valuable in this space.”
Education is a key component of the venture. “Our ISpy Learn programme provides educational modules for both younger and older primary and intermediate school learners, and aims to quash the myths around lice and decrease the associated stigmatisation,” says Kate. Schools are a hugely important part of the company’s ethos and infrastructure, she adds. “We pride ourselves on supporting them however we can – whether it’s providing NitKits at wholesale prices on consignment so they can fundraise with them, or ensuring we stay at the forefront of headlice research so we can disseminate the information to them in digestible chunks.”
Ensuring equitable access to the product is also important to Kate. “ISpyNits is more than just a headlice treatment, and a large portion of the business is about partnering with foundations to ensure all children have access to both the product and education.”
Aside from the satisfaction of seeing her start-up succeed, what’s particularly exciting for Kate is the opportunity to address a significant health issue for the country. The company is now working on developing a live nits index similar to the ‘hot spot’ maps seen during the Covid pandemic. “The biggest problem I have experienced is a real lack of New Zealand-based headlice data, which makes understanding the true magnitude of the problem very difficult,” observes Kate. “Hosting an index would allow research institutions access to data to understand geographical and seasonal prevalence. It would also assist schools and whānau to be able to access a ‘hot spot’ map to see if headlice cases were anonymously being recorded in their areas.”
International recognition. A positive impact on community health. A thriving business. It’s a lot of ground to cover in only 18 months for anyone – let alone a working parent. “If anyone tells you that it’s easy, they would be lying!” she laughs. “It’s hands down the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. I definitely have ‘mum guilt’, but my kids consider themselves the ‘reason’ for the idea, so they see it as a family business!” Although her children inspired the initial concept, Kate’s proud that she’s now providing some inspiration of her own. “My kids are experiencing their mum working hard towards making real change.”
For many people, combining full-time work with parenting two small boys would be busy enough, thanks. But not for ISpyNits founder Kate Ricketts. This working mother added some scientific research, a crash course in entrepreneurship and the launch of her own start-up into the mix – all in the space of 18 months.
In actual fact, it was Kate’s young sons who set her on the path to launching ISpyNits, a company which supplies parents and schools with “NitKits” containing all the elements a caregiver needs to deal with a headlice outbreak. Kate had become increasingly frustrated with “the never-ending cycle of nits”, she recalls. “I knew it was probably because I was missing an egg, but my oldest is neurodiverse, and it was a real battle to get him to sit down so that I could search for them.”
Kate suspected that the real problem was not simply eradicating the lice themselves, but the numerous eggs, or “nits”, that remain even after the live lice have been killed. Although the eggs are easy enough to remove once identified, the problem is finding all these tiny timebombs in the first place – and it was this issue that Kate wanted to address.
As a former veterinary nurse, she knew that the fluorescent properties of black light (a form of UV light) can be used to confirm the presence of ringworm in animals. More research revealed that fingerprinting powder could fluoresce insect exoskeletons under the same light. On a hunch, she ordered some of this powder online and applied it to her son’s hair to see if it fluoresced the lice eggs. It worked – and her usually restless son was intrigued by finding “‘glow in the dark’ bugs!” The idea for ISpyNits Glo-Powder – a non-toxic powder which adheres to and then fluoresces the lice eggs under UV light for easy identification – was born.
This Glo-Powder now forms a crucial part of the ISpy NitKits. ISpyNits currently supplies NitKits to families and schools through their online store, but the pharmacy community is quickly coming on board to stock the products, says Kate. International markets are already on the horizon, too, with plans to roll out to Australia next year.
Kate believes this rapid rise to success would not have been possible without the support of the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE). As she works at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland (as the Schools and Community Outreach Manager), she was already familiar with CIE after “falling in love” with its Maker Space. Kate took part in CIE’s Velocity entrepreneurship development programme and subsequently won the Social category for the Velocity $100k Challenge business planning competition. This gave her a place in the Venture Lab incubator and took ISpyNits a step closer to commercial reality. “The Velocity $100K Challenge and the subsequent Venture Lab programme were key in laying out a commercial ecosystem in a digestible way, especially for a newbie in the area,” she remembers. “I’ve had to take the training wheels off and go out into the scary world of venture capitalism and capital raising; however, I’ve done that feeling confident that I’ve validated my market, and that’s due to CIE.”
Her key takeaway from her crash course in entrepreneurship has been “the age old ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ – which initially was a bit of a blessing, because I think if I knew the amount of regulatory and international trade hurdles that awaited, I might not have undertaken it,” she laughs.
Eighteen months on, ISpyNits has become a flourishing business, securing funding from the University of Auckland’s knowledge mobilisation and commercialisation company, UniServices, at the end of last year. “The support they provide has made a stressful time much easier,” enthuses Kate. “It feels like you have a true partner to bounce ideas off, and that is so valuable in this space.”
Education is a key component of the venture. “Our ISpy Learn programme provides educational modules for both younger and older primary and intermediate school learners, and aims to quash the myths around lice and decrease the associated stigmatisation,” says Kate. Schools are a hugely important part of the company’s ethos and infrastructure, she adds. “We pride ourselves on supporting them however we can – whether it’s providing NitKits at wholesale prices on consignment so they can fundraise with them, or ensuring we stay at the forefront of headlice research so we can disseminate the information to them in digestible chunks.”
Ensuring equitable access to the product is also important to Kate. “ISpyNits is more than just a headlice treatment, and a large portion of the business is about partnering with foundations to ensure all children have access to both the product and education.”
Aside from the satisfaction of seeing her start-up succeed, what’s particularly exciting for Kate is the opportunity to address a significant health issue for the country. The company is now working on developing a live nits index similar to the ‘hot spot’ maps seen during the Covid pandemic. “The biggest problem I have experienced is a real lack of New Zealand-based headlice data, which makes understanding the true magnitude of the problem very difficult,” observes Kate. “Hosting an index would allow research institutions access to data to understand geographical and seasonal prevalence. It would also assist schools and whānau to be able to access a ‘hot spot’ map to see if headlice cases were anonymously being recorded in their areas.”
International recognition. A positive impact on community health. A thriving business. It’s a lot of ground to cover in only 18 months for anyone – let alone a working parent. “If anyone tells you that it’s easy, they would be lying!” she laughs. “It’s hands down the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. I definitely have ‘mum guilt’, but my kids consider themselves the ‘reason’ for the idea, so they see it as a family business!” Although her children inspired the initial concept, Kate’s proud that she’s now providing some inspiration of her own. “My kids are experiencing their mum working hard towards making real change.”
Kate Ricketts
Family pack contents
EMAIL
CIE@AUCKLAND.AC.NZ
POSTAL ADDRESS
THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND BUSINESS SCHOOL
PRIVATE BAG 92019, AUCKLAND
