When I was in my twenties I was cycling in London when I was hit from behind by a car. I was thrown from my bike and my head hit the kerb hard. The helmet was smashed, my collarbone broken, and the ambulance crew and doctors all told me the same thing: without it, I would not have survived. One look at the dent the kerbstone had left in it, and I believed them.

Years later I watched London's bike-share schemes arrive and noticed almost nobody wore a helmet. A survey I ran found the reason: they were too cumbersome to carry around all day. So I set out to build one that folds. I was told it was impossible, which was all the encouragement I needed. In 2013 more than 2,700 people backed my folding helmet on Indiegogo, and by 2016 it was on thousands of people's heads, the world's first flat folding bicycle helmet.

Woolf is where that story continues, this time pairing the folding designs I'm known for with smart safety built in.

Fully funded in under three hours
Woolf reached its Kickstarter target in under three hours and is now 783% funded, backed by 500 supporters.

Recognition

Jeff was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 2001 for services to innovation and business. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, and a SFEDI Gold-qualified Innovation Consultant. His flat folding helmet went on to be honoured around the world:

• Popular Science Safety Invention of the Year
• The Edison Gold Award
• One of Time magazine's Best Inventions of the Year
• The iF Design Award
• The UNESCO Award for Innovation
• The Yahoo Sports Technology Award

The recognition Jeff values most isn't on this list. It's every rider who walks away from a crash because they were wearing a helmet, just as he did.