The entrepreneur who has designed a hand grenade to hold in her purse in opposition to harassers | Business | EUROtoday

The yr 2022 was troublesome for Julieta Rueff. Much greater than I had imagined. She was then finding out International Relations and Marketing on the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona when a boy started to harass her. He adopted her residence, waited for her within the doorway, sat close by in cafes. He did not let her breathe. She talked to him, however nothing modified, and in some face-to-face conditions she felt so afraid that she tried to make use of the pepper spray that her mother and father had given her. “I couldn’t use it because I was very nervous,” remembers the younger girl, now 24 years outdated.

That was the start line to design a tool with which it has invoiced 200,000 euros in its first yr available on the market: it’s formed like a grenade, the dimensions of a keychain and while you pull the ring a strong alarm sounds whereas video, sound and geolocation are activated to inform contacts.

Getting to this gadget was not only a private answer for Rueff – born in Lisbon however residing in Barcelona since she was 12 years outdated. “I talked to those around me and found that many women had gone through it: harassment, fear at night… There were more than I thought,” she remembers.

From his room in his mother and father’ home he designed with Blender —software program free to create three-dimensional content material—a primary sketch that he printed due to a pal’s 3D printer. He added easy electronics and with that prototype he regarded for buyers. She bought lots of no’s till somebody trusted her. With a primary spherical of 500,000 euros, he was capable of rent engineers and a communications crew. It took two years to fine-tune the gadget and cross all of the certifications, however in 2024 FlamAid hit the market.

Its operation is easy. It is formed like a grenade and all you must do is pull its ring to activate a 110 decibel alarm audible a few streets away. At the identical time, the cellphone to which it’s related—with the appliance developed by the corporate—begins to file audio and video robotically whereas sending the geolocation to emergency contacts. Its dimension is that of a keychain and its weight is 300 grams. It might be hung in your bag or backpack in order that it’s at hand always “and in an emergency situation you just have to throw it away,” says Rueff.

With a worth of 49 euros, gross sales offered out in its first three print runs and never solely in Spain, but in addition in Latin America and varied international locations, akin to Portugal or Türkiye. They invoiced 200,000 euros in 2025.