UniTheft

Anti-theft Device Tire Device. 

How does UniTheft plan to impact the war on wheel theft? The answer lays in UniTheft’s unique metal separation detection technology. It starts with a sensor attached to each of the car’s wheels. If a wheel becomes separated from its axle at any time, the sensors will detect that a wheel has been detached from its axle and an alert message is sent to your mobile device via text message.

And what happens if the alert message is sent out and the vehicle owner cannot act before the wheels have been stolen? UniTheft took further precautions against this issue and installed a GPS tracking device inside each of the sensors. Each missing wheel can be tracked via smartphone devices. This added precaution helps to streamline to process for car owners who are trying to recover their stolen wheel.

The UniTheft team knew they had a competitive product because there a few other products like theirs on the market, but they wanted to further identify their customer segments and validate some assumptions they had about their sensory technology. After joining the UCF I-Corps program, UniTheft engaged in customer discovery.  During the I-Corps program, UniTheft identified tire manufactures and avid consumers of car tires would use their sensory technology. They also learned that their metal separation detectors have great potential for theft prevention of audio and stereo car equipment as well.

UniTheft’s Entrepreneurial Lead, Mathew White, and UCF’s Richard Quinn, the team’s Principle Investigator, are working hard to maximize commercialization of their technology and protect the nation’s cars from theives. This team was mentored by Oscar Rodriguez of NovaCharge.

Looking Ahead: The UniTheft team plans to further define their market segments and devise a market entry strategy for audio equipment providers.