Turning disabilities into superpowers with Foresight and Open Bionics
Foresight led a £4.7 million investment round into Open Bionics in early 2019 through the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund, providing capital for Open Bionics to scale their business further.
The ‘Hero arm’ revolutionised the prostheses industry making these life-changing prosthetics even more widely available. One recipient, Danny Florence lost his right hand, fingers from his left hand, and both legs to meningococcal septicaemia when he was 5 years old.
He had not had a great experience with prosthetic limbs throughout his life but after the birth of his first child Joshua, he raised funds for a ‘hero arm’ to assist him – a life changing decision and a success story for everyone involved.
So what did I do?
This actually started as an sketched idea for ads upon learning of the collaboration between Foresight and Open Bionics. Concepts sat unused until Danny’s story came to light. Along with photographer Andy Pilsbury, we worked on images that captured the bond between Danny and Joshua (with the help of a squeaky teletubbie). Our aim was to do that in a sensitive way, echoing classic Madonna and child paintings with a touch of chiaroscuro, however with the suprise addition of the ‘hero arm’.
