New collaboration leverages Avnet's product development ecosystem to bring Not Impossible Labs' visionary technologies to mass market

PHOENIX & VENICE BEACH -- 21 SEPTEMBER 2018 - How does one of the world's most groundbreaking technology incubators turn its ideas for solving life's absurdities into marketable products? It leverages Avnet's end-to-end ecosystem for technology developers. 

That's the genesis of the new partnership between Avnet (Nasdaq: AVT), a leading global technology solutions provider, and Not Impossible Labs, an award-winning R&D lab and content studio that creates technology for the sake of humanity.

Through the combination of Avnet's product development expertise, and Not Impossible's mission to provide greater access to life-changing technologies, the two companies are creating products to enhance the quality of life for people who lack access and opportunity, or who suffer from some of the world's most pervasive and challenging health conditions, while increasing opportunities for inclusivity.

First up in the multi-year agreement will be a focus on Not Impossible Labs' Vibrotextiles™, a category of vibratory wearables with benefits that extend to areas such as health and wellness, entertainment, safety and communication. 

VibroHealth is a wearable technology that uses vibrations to improve quality of life for people affected by motor-related issues, so they may return to some of the activities they enjoy most. 

Music: Not Impossible uses sophisticated vibration technology to create a more inclusive and enhanced live music experience for the deaf and hearing, allowing everyone, regardless of their hearing level, to enjoy an amazing multisensory experience.

"I'm truly inspired by the business that Not Impossible Labs has built based on its 'help one to help many' philosophy, and now with Avnet as its partner, its products will be accessible to even more people in need," said Bill Amelio, Chief Executive Officer, Avnet. "Avnet's unique technology development ecosystem gives companies like Not Impossible Labs access to our expertise and resources so it can bring its important innovations to market easier, faster and more cost-efficiently, with one single technology solutions partner to guide R&D and the go-to-market process. We are confident that this collaboration will succeed--not just in delivering products to market, but in truly transforming people's lives."

This partnership represents the next stage of Avnet's support for Not Impossible. For the second year, Avnet will be the title sponsor of the Not Impossible Awards, which recognize and celebrate people, companies, technology and transformational innovation that bring positive change to global communities' issues of inability and inaccessibility, as well as the sponsor of the program's IoT-focused Connectivity Award. Additionally, Avnet supported the first season of Podcast: Not Impossible, a series that explores true stories of the "impossible" made "not impossible," like technology that allows amputees to "feel" via advancements in prosthetic limbs and the "Eyewriter," which Not Impossible developed to enable a paralyzed artist to create again.

"Avnet's ongoing support has brought Not Impossible Labs' work to the next level, whether through event and project sponsorships, or by rolling up its sleeves and facilitating product development, logistics and supply chain management," said Mick Ebeling, founder & CEO of Not Impossible Labs. "This partnership allows us to focus on Not Impossible Labs' highest and best purpose: inventing solutions to the world's 'absurdities' with confidence that our creations won't languish on a back-office shelf -- Avnet will help bring our dreams to 'Help Many' to life."

Through its unique end-to-end ecosystem, Avnet supports every stage of the product lifecycle by delivering design, product, marketing and supply chain expertise. This ecosystem, comprised of small-scale specialists Premier Farnell and element14, design-focused Hackster.io, and manufacturing solution provider Dragon Innovation, reduces the time, cost and complexities of bringing products to market, and enables the Not Impossible's mission of taking innovations from "one to many." (*).