When Solar Bright’s Pat Martin has a great idea, he isn’t prepared to let anything get in his way.

“The first job I had was making coffins, I’ve been a shop fitter for 30 odd years, and I’ve travelled all over the world, worked at Buckingham palace, across Europe, and I’ve had a varied career. But I’ve always had the mind-set of being good at what I do, so whatever I put my hand to I try to be the best I can,” Pat said.

At 52, Pat refuses to be put off, no matter what the challenge is.

“I’m still severely dyslexic, struggle even to write my name that’s why I’ve changed it to Pat from Patrick, because I can’t write it out on a piece of paper, so that gives you some idea of how I’ve gone through life, I just have to do what I have to do”.

It’s that ability to find a way around any problem that’s driven Pat for much of his life, and the innovation that brought him into Vodafone xone is a symbol of that.

“I was driving through the Desert road one night, it was 3 o’clock in the morning, and there was nothing else about. I went around a bend, the back of the van slid out on ice, and I thought why isn’t there a warning anywhere.

“I thought why doesn’t someone make one that detects ice on the road? So I came home, sat down, and got on the google, and couldn’t find anything and thought well I’ll make one,” Pat added.

For Solar Bright co-founder Nicola Martin, that’s just a normal day in the life of their company.

“When Pat says oh I’m going to do something, he is hands on, always on the go, passionate and determined with a lot of drive. So nothing is a surprise anymore after 29 years of marriage,” Nicola said.

Inventing the solar powered cat’s eyes was Pat’s first challenge.

The next was in finding a way to make it IoT capable, or able to be connected to the internet, so the data could be seamlessly transferred to agencies anywhere around the country to receive a message to spread grit, or issue warnings. And that’s where Vodafone xone was able to make the difference.

“When I started work there was no mobile phones or anything like that so I really struggled with mobile technology and the internet side of things, but with Vodafone’s global connectivity it was an ideal opportunity to get into what we needed to do next,” Pat said.

Vodafone xone is a start-up accelerator and innovation lab through which Vodafone partners with early and late stage start-ups. Selected companies receive a total package valued at more than $150,000, including $25,000 in seed-funding, and access to world class technology and mentoring as part of a six-month programme.

Ten were selected last July to take part in 2016 Vodafone xone, out of more than 170 applicants from around New Zealand.

Vodafone Consumer Director Matt Williams is delighted with the results of the first year of the programme.

“We launched Vodafone xone with an ambition to find the best mobile and digital technologies in New Zealand, and take them to the world through Vodafone’s international network.

“Collectively they’ve generated $9 million in new revenue, attracted $7 million in capital funding, created 25 new jobs, and they’re now operating in12 countries. Individually they’ve created some amazing new technologies,” Matt said.

For Nicola, Vodafone xone has been a dream come true.

“We’ve met amazing mentors, they’ve put us in touch with global entrepreneurs, and we’ve been introduced to a number of companies internationally. Just being able to say, as we have done in Canada recently, we can provide the connectivity through Vodafone that’s made such a difference in terms of getting trials approved,” Nicola said.

The Martins also recently completed a successful trial of the solar powered cat’s eye on Otago roads.

“What came out of that was 82% of vehicles did actually slow down on the activation of the PATeye, so we did potentially save somebody’s life or at least they drove to the conditions, so they are effective, they do what they say they’re doing to do,” Nicola added.

Which for Pat is the most important thing about bringing his ideas to life.

“If we save somebody’s life then that’s brilliant, because people in New Zealand often drive too fast, and there are way too many accidents. We need to take a serious look at how we’re going to start solving these problems. I’d like to get the Dataeye on a global scale giving people useful information to make the road safer globally,” Pat added.

From today, applications re-open for Kiwi start-ups and established entrepreneurs to be part of Vodafone xone 2017.

Nicola has a message for prospective applicants.

“Just do it, apply, I’m so pleased we did. If you have got something and you know you have definitely apply because Vodafone will help you make those connections, and get you out to the world,” Nicola said.

Vodafone Consumer Director Matt Williams is excited about the next group of innovators.

“This year we are particularly interested to see where clever Kiwis are looking to take things in quickly evolving areas such as health technology, IoT (Internet of Things), artificial intelligence or big data,” Matt added.

For more on Vodafone xone, head to https://vodafonexone.co.nz