The mom who set out to make the world safer

An early fall day of 2006 someone knocked on Bipper founder Silje Vallestads door. Siljes 6 year old daughter Oda had just started school, and one of her new class mates was coming over for a play date. In her hand her new friend carried a mobile phone.

Kids and Mobiles

It didn't take many searches on Google before she realized that even though most 6 year olds did not have mobile phones, the trend was moving in that direction. Kids were younger and younger when they received their first mobile phone and soon it would be as common as the backpack. This made Vallestad very uncomfortable, especially when she started learning about some of the issues related to kids and mobile phones. Bullying, sexting, costly content, contact with strangers and sleep deprivation were some of the many problems identified. At the same time, the need for simple communication and the security mobile phones provided was appealing to many parents, including herself. She considered providing a mobile phone for a daughter, but it couldn't be a regular phone.

In search of a solution

After numerous searches for a safe, secure mobile solution for kids, she eventually concluded that it didn't exist. Silje identified a few kiddy phones with mommy, daddy buttons, but they looked like toys and even a 3 year old would realize they were not a real mobile phones. She also found a mobile operator for kids, but could not use their service in Norway. Silje was dreaming about a solution where she could define the settings on her daughter's mobile from a web page. She also wanted to control and monitor who she could speak to, how much the phone could be used and when it could be used. In addition, she wanted to be able to locate her daughter if she got lost and provide her with a safety alarm which could easily be activated by her daughter if needed. Since the product didn't exist, she had to invent it herself.

From idealist to tech-mom

One issue facing her was the fact that she had no knowledge about the mobile industry and technology. Her background and interest was volunteer and idealistic work and a career within the mobile industry was something she had never considered. Without any relevant competence she started illustrating what she was dreaming of developing. She had no idea if it was possible to realize this dream, men her vision was clear. She researched the market extensively and got a lot of feed-back from other parents. She participated in a business plan competition called Venture Cup and was able to to define a strategy for how the product should be developed. By winning the competition and receiving $20,000, the decision was made - she had to realize her dream.

Safety for kids, moms, teens and us all

After a rollacoaster journey with the ups and downs all start-ups experience, BipperKids was launched in Europe late fall 2010 in partnership with two operators. Very soon after BipperKids was launched mothers everywhere contacted us to let us know they where now borrowing their childs Bipper-phone when going for a girls night out or for a run in the evenings. They too wanted the safety alarm we had developed for the kids. We had to listen, and since half of team Bipper are females that was an easy thing to do. Summer 2011 bSafe, the safety alarm for moms, teens, and anyone else who wants extra safety, was launched. Now Bipper is on a journey to make everyone safer !