Kitt Medical’s services include a wall-mounted kit that contains a maximum of four adrenaline pens, (x2 of each dose), suitable for different age/weight groups to be used in emergencies, when for example, an allergy sufferer has forgotten their prescribed adrenaline pen or when they do not own one because they are unaware of an allergy. The service also includes online training, which has been completed more than 15,000 times.
Zak, 27, and James, 28, impressed Deborah Meaden and Steven Bartlett especially, who were drawn to the young founder’s passion for the life-saving capabilities of adrenaline pens to improve outcomes of sudden life-threatening allergic reactions and education around anaphylaxis.
Zak was inspired to start the company and develop the service as he lives with a severe nut allergy himself, which he discovered at the age of 5 after having traces of peanut butter on toast.
And after seeing too many ‘avoidable’ deaths on the news caused by allergic reactions, Zak decided to try and tackle the problem he faced every day.
As the number of people with allergies and hospital admissions for sufferers rises across the UK, Kitt Medical has dispatched its Anaphylaxis Kitt service at more than 600 sites across the UK since its launch in February 2023. This includes schools, private businesses and hospitality / entertainment venues. Staff across Alton Towers Resort, Autotrader, Westmorland Family and law firm Michelmores LLP, can access these Kitts given that there is an occupational health scheme in place.
The positive response from the Dragons continued, as Steven noted how the young founders have a clear impact driven approach to tackling the important issue of allergies being on the rise, whilst Deborah congratulated the pair on being sustainably minded as the Kitt Medical sets are made from recycled plastic in the UK.
To date, Kitt Medical sets have been used in ten cases, aiding to prevent fatal situations including multiple situations where people had unknown allergies and didn’t have their own adrenaline pen, such as teacher Elaine Fraser, 53, at York House School who in September 2024 had no known allergies and survived a sudden life-threatening allergic reaction after using an adrenaline pen from Kitt Medical.
Zak comments: “Throughout my life, my allergies have often been misunderstood, stigmatised, and even joked about, but anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction, can cause serious harm or even death. Our mission is to make anaphylaxis treatment accessible to anyone who needs it' it’s highly important to have generic adrenaline medication readily available for emergencies, as anaphylaxis can strike anyone, even those without known allergies.”
Kitt Medical’s start-up story went viral on Tik-Tok with over 5 million views as what started off with Zak studying Industrial Design at Loughborough University and Kitt Medical being a university project, has now been featured in the press across the BBC, The Times, Good Morning Britain and The Independent with cases of their adrenaline pens being used in life-threatening situations.
They have also received recognition for their work, winning various awards including London’s Mayors Entrepreneur, Santander X and The Conduit Young Innovator.