Brisbane tech company iStaySafe goes under

Administrators have been appointed to an award-winning Brisbane tech company that had developed a popular child safety tracking device.

Administrators have been appointed to an award-winning Brisbane tech company iStaySafe that had developed a popular child safety tracking device.

But there are hopes the business, which claimed to have the world’s smallest GPS Safety watch, can survive under new ownership.

Buyers or new investors are being sought for iStaySafe and a related firm Find Me Technologies (FMT) after administrators McGrathNichol took control of the Newstead-based companies last week.

The company’s flagship child safety smartwatch and software TicTocTrack had experienced 600 per cent sales growth over previous years but pandemic shutdowns had hit its operations.

In 2019, iStaySafe acquired another Brisbane tech firm FMT, which specialised in wearable devices for aged care and lone workers.

IStaySafe founder Karen Cantwell said at the time that the combination of the two companies “meant better safety monitoring for loved ones - both young and older.”

Both companies had secured matching investment from the Queensland Business Development Fund (BDF) to further develop their hardware and safety technology.

IStaySafe founder Karen Cantwell wanted a device small enough for a child to wear

Ms Cantwell, a mother of two, started working on a child tracking device in 2012 with the aim to make it small enough for children to wear as well as something that couldn’t be lost and didn’t need to be clipped onto clothing.

The devices are linked with a customised web platform that allows alerts to be raised when necessary. Ms Cantwell referred questions about the future of the business to the administrators.

McGrathNicol Restructuring administrators Anthony Connelly and Jamie Harris said expressions of interest had already been called as part of a sale campaign and that had generated inital interest in the business.

“The business operations of both companies are continuing and a sale campaign has generated significant interest in either the purchase or recapitalisation of the business,” said Mr Connelly.

He said it was too early to pinpoint the exact causes of the company‘s financial difficulties but the business was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns, which negatively impacted sales and revenue.