As parents, we know what safety should feel like. It’s the certainty, pride and joy of seeing our little ones cradled in safety in the back seat. And it’s the freedom to focus on where you and your family are heading next.
We also know the importance of being able to trust in quality.
We know safety.
As professionals, when we took on the mission of revolutionizing child safety, we knew nothing short of excellence would suffice. That’s why from the beginning, babyark refused to settle for anything other than the best of the best from all fields to make sure that each decision was made with a 360° perspective of safety, and form meeting function. With safety at the core of everything we do, design and engineering work symbiotically to push babyark to the forefront of innovation.
When an Aeronautical Engineer’s Babies Birth a Product Idea
When his twins were born, Shy Mindel, babyark’s founder and CEO, found his newly purchased convertible car seat very difficult to install.
An accomplished aeronautical engineer who had created life-saving seats for helicopters and armored vehicles, he realized that if it’s hard for him, it must be hard for everyone. He felt frustrated by what he felt was a choice between “more of the same,” with all of his options simply feeling less than adequate.
Someone who understands safety, engineering, and how to leverage technology to level-up the how, why, and what - he realized the problem he saw was actually an opportunity. To create the very seat he wanted and couldn’t find. Sometimes, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Especially if you have years of experience in safety in mobility with aviation-grade materials.
Reimagining safety
As Shy himself tells it, “When we set out on our journey, we took nothing for granted and pulled out all the stops in creating a different standard of safety. We looked everywhere for inspiration — from nature to performance racing cars, from aerospace engineering to protective technologies pioneered by the military. Learning from the best we could cull from each source of inspiration, we proceeded to build a car seat that completely reimagined what safety could be.”
From Performance to Protection, Safety by Design
In a world of “or,” babyark created the option for “and,” sleek design combined with incredible safety measures and ease of use. Shy knew he could find the right people to handle the engineering and the production along with him, so what he needed to ensure success was a partner in design. He found that in Frank Stephenson, legendary automobile designer, former lead designer at BMW, MINI, Ferrari, Maserati and McLaren. As someone who built his reputation for designing for performance and speed, he knew what it takes to bring that same level of performance to safety.
This was the beginning of a long journey where he and his team would completely reimagine what a convertible car seat could be. And how beautiful it could look.
There were no shortcuts on this journey. Both Frank and Shy didn’t just want to make slight improvements to the existing alternatives, they wanted to push the boundaries on what’s possible. After winning the CES Innovation Award in 2023 with the launch of pre-sale of babyark’s first car seats, Frank and Shy felt reinvigorated to continue their work, and the impact their work will have on the safety of future generations.
Tested beyond belief
Implementing methods of energy absorption from other fields and building the kind of car seat we would want to use ourselves was the first step. But when you strive to be an industry leader, you never rest on your laurels. Especially when talking about safety.
Each evolution of the babyark convertible car seat is conceived, created, iterated on, and tested to ensure the quality our customers have come to expect. And then, we test some more.
The babyark not only passed each and every test required by regulation, we designed over 200 additional ones to ensure it adhered to our own elevated standards of safety — at higher speeds, varying baby weights, and in multiple positions, some even with the seat intentionally installed incorrectly — everything to ensure your little one’s safety.
Beyond standing on data and test results (and offering them up for anyone to read, because we believe in transparency), we also highly value feedback. We love positive reviews, of course, but we also take very seriously any input. We have made changes and tweaks to our products thanks to customer feedback, and have an “open door policy.” Question, comment, or suggestion? We always want to hear it. And that’s part of why we are always improving. Because we don’t talk at our audience, we are parents ourselves, and we listen.
Read more about our design and engineering stories.
Intrigued? Compare the Classic to the Smart seat here.
