Romanian designs theft-proof smart wallet, finances project on Kickstarter

Romanian entrepreneur Viorel Crețu raised USD 22,000 on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter with his startup Wallor, the manufacturer of a smart wallet with RFID Protection and GPS tracking, local platform start-up.ro reports. The newsmart wallet aims to prevent an issue that can affect contactless card owners without them even noticing. It has RFID blocking material built in the design, thus protecting its owner from the unwanted “download” of the sums on the card. Wallor says USD 4.2 million has been stolen from contactless cards in the US in the first half of the past year, pointing to a new threat. At the same time, the new product is equipped with GPS tracking to target old-school pick-pocketing. The wallet is connected to a smartphone app that gets triggered when the distance between the owner and his or hers wallet increases, alerting them when they are leaving it behind or helping locate a displaced one. The Kickstarter campaign that Wallor ran last year saw 187 people pledge USD 22,304 to finance the project, and the success of the campaign attracted other investors who put up another USD 60,000. Viorel Crețu says the idea came after his wallet was stolen while in Spain, and recovering his ID documents proved difficult. Wallor is not his first venture. His first business was a Brașov advertising agency opened in 2003, and web development company WebEffects followed in 2007. The Wallor wallet can hold both regular cash and cards, and mass production is set to start mid-February. Another Kickstarter campaign is planned for March to finance it, and the first deliveries should happen in April, start-up.ro writes. The company targets 40,000 clients by the end of 2017, and plans to close partnerships with at least 500 retailers worldwide and set up an affiliated system of 1,000 people by the end of the year. With a team of eight people, Wallor has offices in Spain, US, and China, and plans to open a fourth in Saudi Arabia. The production of the new luxury wallet, which costs USD 99, will take place in China, in three different locations: Shenzen, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, at a plant which also works with Prada. Since the product retails as a luxury one, Wallor wants to stand out with the materials used, the design, and the support it offers clients. The company tested more than 50 types of leather before choosing which one to use. The new wallet competes with names such as Walli, Woolet, and Ekster on the technology side and Bellroy on the luxury aspect. “We want to position ourselves on the men’s luxury segment, offering products that can be compared with those of the big brands. Wallor will also create men’s accessories for daily use,” Viorel Crețu told start-up.ro. Three wallet designs are currently on the table, and another eight are being drafted.