When an idea outgrows the company that created it

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Concept, certification and independent company, built as one continuous process.

Most mobility concepts stay concepts. A design studio validates an idea, presents it, and moves on to the next one. WheeM-i, an Italdesign project for wheelchair accessibility, could have followed that path after its 2019 debut. Avathor One shows what happens when it does not.

Named one of five global finalists in the Toyota Mobility Unlimited Challenge in 2020, WheeM-i was picked up by Avathor, an independent startup founded in 2024, and taken through EU medical device certification, patent protection and production. Avathor One is now a CE-marked Class I medical device, launching in Italy in the second half of 2025, with a pilot programme under discussion with the City of Turin.

This whitepaper documents Italdesign’s hub model: how a concept becomes an independent company, what design, engineering and patent support that transition required, and where Italdesign’s responsibility ended once the handoff began.

What you will learn

  • Why a validated concept and a certifiable product are not the same thing.
  • How Italdesign’s hub model moves an idea from internal concept to independent company.
  • What design, engineering and patent support look like once ownership has transferred.
  • How WheeM-i’s 2019 architecture was re-engineered to meet medical device certification requirements.
  • Why intellectual property protection is part of the handoff, not an afterthought.
  • What a staged market rollout requires, from certification to pricing to sales channels.
  • How this model applies beyond Avathor, to any startup or institution turning a concept into a product.

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