RADICAL REALIST

Kitt Medical: Just like a defibrillator, but for allergies

The start-up on a mission to create a new standard for allergy care

 Kitt Medical Co-Founder Zak Marks with a ‘Kitt’ at The Conduit

Zak Marks has lived with a severe nut allergy his entire life. Growing up, he watched a seemingly endless cycle of allergy deaths on the news but felt that there was little being done about the lack of awareness, training, or the availability of emergency adrenaline pens. During his final year at university, he had an idea: to create something just like a defibrillator, but for allergies.

Zak set about designing his invention and after graduating in 2020, he founded Kitt Medical. Less than three years later, the multi-award-winning Anaphylaxis Kitt officially launched, providing emergency adrenaline pens in a wall mounted ‘Kitt,’ alongside online CPD-accredited training and incident reporting. The Kitts operate on an annual subscription basis, so adrenaline pens are replaced at no additional cost if they expire or need to be used.

In early 2023, Kitts launched exclusively to schools. Since then, Kitt has partnered with more than 300 and trained 5,000 staff members, helping to provide safety to more than 150,000 students. Zak believes his personal connection to this mission, his love of public speaking, and the multi-talented team he has recruited to run Kitt are all keys to the business’ success to date. The ultimate goal is to have a Kitt next to every defibrillator, targeting businesses and public spaces from universities to theme parks, offices to restaurants, all in the next year.

The ‘Anaphylaxis Kitt’

In Kitt’s early days, Zak spent a lot of time reaching out to founders on LinkedIn, where he ended up meeting several investors. He and his co-founder, James Cohen, raised £625,000 over three funding rounds for the business, which has been revenue-generating since early 2023 but has yet to turn a profit. Zak and James’ team attends conferences and speaking events multiple times a month to exhibit Kitts to customers, as well as marketing through social media, newsletters, and partnerships. But most deals come from word-of-mouth referrals – something that they aim to keep growing as they continue to create awareness for allergy and anaphylaxis across the UK.

The most significant moment for Kitt came around the 200 Kitt sale point, when the team was notified that the first incident had occurred. A 14-year-old called Ava was experiencing a severe allergic reaction and couldn’t find her adrenaline pens. Thankfully, an Anaphylaxis Kitt was installed nearby – and used for the first time ever.  When the incident report came through on Kitt’s software, Zak and his small team were in shock: “We never knew when the day that one of our Kitts would actually be used would come. It’s one thing to imagine, create and launch something that has the potential to save lives. It’s another thing for it to be actually used by a real-life person in a real life-threatening scenario.”

The Kitt Medical team

Zak Marks was a 2023 winner of The Conduit’s Young Innovator awards, which recognise and celebrate the effort and potential of changemakers between the ages of 18 and 28.

To attend this year’s awards on Thursday 23 May 2024, click here.