Emily Brooke
{{Short description|British inventor and entrepreneur}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Emily Brooke
| image =
| caption =
| years_active = 2011–present
| known_for = Beryl Laserlights
Founder of Beryl
}}
Emily Sophie Hastings Brooke {{postnominal-GBR|MBE}} (born November 1985) is a British inventor, industrial designer and entrepreneur known for having developed the Beryl (formerly Blaze) Laserlights used for Santander Cycles (the London bike rental scheme).{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30793332 |title=BBC News – The inspiration behind a new bicycle light |work=BBC News |date=18 January 2015 |access-date=2017-10-05}}
Early life and education
Brooke attended Royal High School, Bath until 2003.{{Cite web |date=2019-09-20 |title=Alumna Emily Brooke wins Trailblazer of the Year 2019!! |url=https://royalhighbath.fireflycloud.net/newsletters/senior-newsletter/2019-2020/september/2009/alumna-emily-brooke-wins-trailblazer-of-the-year-2019- |access-date=2023-11-15 |website=Royal High School Bath}} She began a course in physics at the University of Oxford but abandoned it to instead study product design in Brighton.{{Cite web |last=Coleman |first=Alison |date=2019-10-24 |title=How Beryl Is Getting People Out Of Their Car And Onto A Bike |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisoncoleman/2019/10/24/how-beryl-is-getting-people-out-of-their-car-and-onto-a-bike/ |access-date=2023-11-15 |website=Forbes |language=en}}
Beryl Laserlights
Beryl laserlights are bicycle lights which project an image of a bicycle onto the road ahead of the rider, to improve safety by alerting other users when the bicycle is in their blind spot or round a corner.
Brooke developed the laser as part of a project in her final year at the University of Brighton and was entered into an entrepreneurship programme in Boston (funded by Santander). After graduating in 2011 she developed the project further by listing the concept on Kickstarter, gaining attention from Transport for London as well as securing funding from the family of Richard Branson.{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/aug/24/laserlight-lifesaver-cyclists-emily-brooke |title=The Guardian – Laserlight, the bright idea of a student behind a lifesaver for cyclists |website=TheGuardian.com |date=24 August 2014 |access-date=2017-10-05}} Her firm, Blaze, was then successful in securing support from Santander who now use the lights on all of the bikes within the Santander Cycles scheme.{{Cite web |url=https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/santander-cycles/blaze-laserlights |title=TFL – Blaze Laserlights |access-date=2017-10-05}} In May 2018, following a lawsuit from a US registered company also with the name Blaze, Brooke changed her company name to Beryl.{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kittyknowles/2018/05/22/blaze-becomes-beryl-how-the-bosch-of-bikes-turned-a-u-s-lawsuit-into-a-positive/#ce65a7a788b1|title=Blaze Becomes Beryl: How The "Bosch of Bikes" Turned A U.S. Lawsuit Into A Positive|last=Knowles|first=Kitty|work=Forbes|access-date=2018-07-10|language=en}}
She was appointed MBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours;{{cite web |title=The Queen's Birthday Honours 2017 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-queens-birthday-honours-2017 |website=GOV.UK |access-date=19 April 2021 |language=en |quote=A number of strong entrepreneurs and those supporting entrepreneurship are also recognised, including ... an MBE for Emily Brooke, Founder and CEO, Blaze}} "For Services to the Economy and Transport".{{London Gazette|issue=61962|page=B15|date=16 July 2017|supp=y}}
Her company, Beryl, sells the "Laserlight" and a range of other cycle lights, and also operates dockless cycle sharing schemes in several cities around the UK.{{cite web |title=Designed in London since 2012 |url=https://beryl.cc/purpose |website=beryl.cc |publisher=Beryl |access-date=11 July 2022 |language=en}}
Revent
In 2021, Brooke was one of the founding partners of Revent, an early-stage venture capital fund aiming to support "Founders who share our belief that the greatest and most important opportunity is ... to tackle a problem that truly matters".{{cite news |last1=Butcher |first1=Mike |title=New European early-stage VC Revent launches with an impact focus, and sights set on a $60M first close |url=https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/16/new-european-early-stage-vc-revent-launches-with-its-sights-set-on-a-60m-first-close/ |access-date=11 July 2022 |work=TechCrunch |date=16 February 2021}}{{cite web |title=Revent - backing purpose-driven founders |url=https://www.revent.vc/ |website=www.revent.vc |access-date=11 July 2022}}{{cite web |title=Revent Capital Investor Profile: Portfolio & Exits |url=https://pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/444127-24#overview |website=pitchbook.com |access-date=11 July 2022 |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://beryl.cc Beryl (formerly Blaze) website]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooke, Emily}}
Category:English industrial designers
Category:21st-century British inventors
Category:British women inventors
Category:Alumni of the University of Brighton
Category:People educated at the Royal High School, Bath