Avnet and Not Impossible Labs Partner to Create Technology Products that Enhance Accessibility and Inclusivity

PHOENIX & VENICE BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 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.”

For more information about Avnet, please visit www.Avnet.com. For more information on Not Impossible Labs, learn more at www.notimpossible.com.

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About Not Impossible
Not Impossible launched in 2008, with a goal of developing and leveraging “Technology for the Sake of Humanity” to allow the world’s most vulnerable to survive and thrive via low-cost solutions. Not Impossible pairs R&D work with documentary content and storytelling about technology and will triumphing over life’s “absurdities,” and harnesses the power of storytelling to inspire others to make an impact by challenging boundaries of that they believe is possible. Not Impossible has received awards and honors for its technology and creative work from Cannes Lions, CLIO Awards, Fast Company, SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards, Telly Awards, TIME magazine, and others.

For more information, please visit www.notimpossible.com and connect with Not Impossible on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

About Mick Ebeling, Not Impossible Founder and CEO
A recipient of the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian of the Year Award, and listed as one of the most influential creative people by AdAge’s Creativity 50, Mick Ebeling has sparked a movement of pragmatic, inspirational innovation; harvesting the power of technology & story to change the world. Ebeling founded Not Impossible Labs, a multiple award-winning social innovation lab & production company, on the premise that nothing is impossible. His mantra of ‘commit, then figure it out’ allows him to convene a disparate team of hackers, doers, makers and thinkers to create devices that better the world by enabling accessibility for all. Ebeling’s style of fearless innovation has resulted in disruptive technological development across multiple industries & inspired collaboration around the world.

About Avnet
From idea to design and from prototype to production, Avnet supports customers at each stage of a product’s lifecycle. A comprehensive portfolio of design and supply chain services makes Avnet the go-to guide for innovators who set the pace for technological change. For nearly a century, Avnet has helped its customers and suppliers around the world realize the transformative possibilities of technology. Learn more about Avnet at: www.avnet.com.

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