Inventors Launchpad Network

Anyone who has ever cut their finger while cutting or chopping food may want to thank RJ Batts, the 15-year-old inventor of Tip Tough®, a simple and inexpensive way to protect professional chefs and home cooks from injury. When RJ was 12, he became consumed with the idea that there had to be a way to help his dad, a professional chef, protect his hands. Bob would often come home with painful cuts and bandaged fingers which sometimes kept him out of work. A year later, 3-D printouts in hand, RJ was accepted into the Young Entrepreneurs Academy at the Salisbury (MD) Area Chamber of Commerce and formed his company, Picklehead LLC. For months he went to classes and on field trips after school, learning how to set up a business, find funding, craft a pitch, and bring the Tip Tough® to market – all while attending middle school and playing on his soccer team. In October 2016, RJ received start-up funding from the Shore Hatchery Competition at Salisbury University (beating out grown-ups from 30 businesses) for a Sec