The iCaddy was born out of a 7-year-old’s frustration when the tablet she’d propped against a table centerpiece kept falling over. Chris Bocci, then a graduate student at Northeastern University, watched his little sister, Katrina, march into the bathroom, retrieve a few cardboard toilet paper tubes and glue them together to fashion a crude device stand. “I was absolutely amazed,” he says.

Bocci decided to take Katrina’s idea and run with it as his capstone project for school. He created a few 3-D prints based on her design and distributed the mobile device stands to Katrina and her friends to see how they used them. Based on their feedback, he made some improvements to the original design and partnered with pop artist Molly Rosner to create some bright kid-friendly designs for the new product.

The iCaddy, in its final form, is a universal mobile device stand for tablets and smartphones. It also comes with a USB power bank, a charging cable and premium earbuds, all of which fit into built-in storage compartments. Storage was an important part of Bocci’s design, he says, because of his observation that “Katrina has 50 pairs of earbuds and she doesn’t know where any are.” The device is also foldable, so it can fit “nice and neat” in backpacks, Bocci notes.

It’s taken about five years for the iCaddy to evolve from a bundle of toilet paper rolls to a marketable product, but the journey has been worth it, Bocci says. The product launched to “overwhelming positive feedback” at the massive tech trade show CES in January. In addition to selling the iCaddy online, Bocci reached a deal with QVC to sell the product. Plus, the company is working on licensing deals with companies like Marvel and Mossy Oak and organizations like the Girl Scouts.

“Right now, we’ve just gotten an overwhelming response,” Bocci says. “Hopefully, we’ll keep that momentum going.”

Bocci says he’s also open to the iCaddy’s promotional potential, since it would be simple to add a logo to the tech accessory. The product is hydrographically printed, creating a “nice and vibrant and shiny” design on the surface, and iCaddy has a minimum order quantity of around 200, plus a one-time screen charge. “You don’t have to buy 10,000 to get logos on it,” Bocci says. “That makes it real attractive.”

Katrina, now 12, is still involved with the product, as iCaddy’s “creative/technology consultant.” Bocci says his sister is very excited about how her initial innovation has evolved and eager to see the fledgling company succeed. “She asks me where the money is every day,” Bocci adds with a laugh. “I’ve got to get selling.”

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