PCH opens online market

Cork-based product development and supply chain management company PCH International has unveiled its new online marketplace, TheBlueprint.com.

Headed up by ShopLocket co-founder Katherine Hague, TheBluePrint will test and sell a range of tech products, including those that come from PCH Access, an initiative which helps hardware start-ups scale for mass production and distribution.

"We are very excited to connect amazing tech products with consumers who love great design and technology," said PCH founder and chief executive Liam Casey. "We are creating a marketplace for today's best tech products and innovative companies.

“The Blueprint is part of our strategy to open up new, start-up-friendly channels to start-ups and to get new products to market.”

Among the initial offerings on the site are the Sphero 2.0, a transparent speaker, and the Withings smart body analyser. A notebook that syncs to the cloud and a smart air conditioning system can also be bought from TheBluePrint.

It is also taking orders for the Ringly, which is a ring that connects to your smartphone and registers any notifications from your device, and smart scale Drop. The site also includes interviews with product creators through its online Blueprint magazine.

The plan is to build the site with further products in the coming months, expanding the list of product categories as it develops.

For PCH, TheBlueprint adds in to its strategy of being involved in every stage of delivering innovative products, from its Highway1 incubator programme and the the PCH Access scheme that provides startups with supply chain services, to its manufacturing operations in China and retail distribution business.

PCH, which has a turnover of $900 million and an operational base in Shenzhen in China, is predicted to have revenues of more than $1 billion a year in 2014.

It supplies big name companies such as Apple and Beats Electronics.