RFID Archives - Serious Startups

Steamboat Springs Colorado startup Ugrokit was founded by the wife and husband team of Carrie and Terry Requist to answer one of life’s most important questions: Dude Where’s My Everything.

Key finders have been around since the 80’s. There were some that worked like the clapper while others responded to a whistle or even others that required you keep track of a button in case you lose your keys. The idea has been refined over and over again. The ZOMM is a great iteration of a keyfinding device but that one uses BlueTooth technology and is relegated to a circular disc like device that is fastened on your keyring.

Ugrokit is different. Ugrokit uses RFID tags that are cheap, flat, washable and can attach to just about everything. The system comes with a Grok which is an orange RFID scanner that attaches to an iPhone (Android later?). You then use as many tags as you would like and you scan them into your iPhone. Once an item is scanned it’s stored and if you can’t locate that item you just wave the scanner around where you think it might be and a series of beeps tells you whether your hot or cold.