Grant Sinclair is a product developer known for inventing the IRIS eTrike® and POCO™ gaming computer kit * which first previewed on BBC and Reuters news in 2017/18. IRIS eTrike was a top BBC news story seen by over 10 million viewers worldwide and has since been offered global distribution from several established brands in the cycling industry together with offer of manufacturing support from a Fortune Global 500 company. IRIS eTrike was test driven by astronaut and test pilot Tim Peake on BBC's 'The One Show' during lockdown.
With a career spanning more than three decades, Grant first started work demoing the Sinclair ZX81 personal computer for his late uncle (serial inventor Sir Clive Sinclair) at the 5th Personal Computer World Show in 1981 (age 9). Grant was a beta tester for Sinclair and had the first working prototype of the C5 (world’s first mass produced electric vehicle) at his Cambridge home for a period in 1981.
The following year Grant produced one of the very first ZX Spectrum games seen and used at a public event, an early fortune teller game (the ZX Spectrum was the best selling computer in the world and kickstarted a home coding and gaming revolution). Grant was also involved with other Cambridge tech company entrepreneurs such as the founder of Acorn computers and family friend Chris Curry, who supported Grant by giving him free computer equipment including the BBC Micro, a machine that was used by more than eighty percent of UK schools.
In 1991, Grant began working for his fathers product design company where he introduced Apple Macintosh and DTP (Desktop Publishing). Under the Saitek and Kasparov brands, Iain produced the industrial design (product styling) for more than one hundred market leading gaming computers which Grant also helped produce graphics for. In 1993 Grant formed a small sales team who sold and manufactured his fathers ultra thin card torch/flashlight design which secured global distribution and sold in the millions.
In 2004 Grant worked with Chairman of Friends of the Earth, Godfrey Bradman to develop a new promotional gadget. Bradman was a major property developer of several landmark areas in London including Broadgate, Docklands and Paddington Basin. Grant was a shareholder in the project and worked on the board alongside Sir Martin Sorrell (founder of WPP – the world’s largest advertising and PR group). The product secured circa £20 million investment from investors that included Lord Young and the Reuben Brothers.
In 2010, Grant setup and directed a Magento based eCommerce company focusing on marketing and selling his fathers new utility knife utilising hyper realistic CGI for images and video. The product became an instant hit after Grant secured multiple media write-ups, including Gizmodo which had just become the largest gadget blog in the world. The CGI of the knife went viral, enabling the shipping product to outsell all known competitors and Grant secured global distribution including thousands of Euroset mobile phone stores.
In 2018, Grant setup a new product development company to focus on developing and marketing his own innovations under the grantsinclair.com brand for global manufacture and distribution with a focus on the tech, cycling and automotive sectors.
Grant has made many media appearances, including with actor and comedian Sir David Jason on Channel 4's 'David Jason's Great British Inventions' and BBCs 'Tomorrows World Live'. He has given talks at schools (commissioned by Arts Council England, National Lottery Heritage Fund and FEAST) as well as at the dedicated Sinclair museum, LoadZX in Portugal. He also gave a keynote speech at the AGM of Mensa (the high IQ society) in October 2022 and appeared on BBC Radio 4 Toast Broadcast and Podcast in May 2023.
Read Grant's Media articles here
Grant appears in the feature length documentary 'The Rubber Keyed Wonder' which premiered at BFI IMAX Southbank, London and will be released on multiple media platforms. The film commemorates the 40th anniversary of the ZX Spectrum computer by Gracious Films, the outfit behind the 'Bedrooms to Billions' trilogy documenting the birth of the gaming industry.
An IRIS eTrike prototype was on show at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, UK for their MOTOPIA Exhibition 2024.
* POCO™ Pocket Raspberry Pi® Gaming Kit started shipping worldwide in 2022. IRIS eTrike is currently being prepared for mass production along with a dedicated 150 sq/m showroom for a distributor in Norway (Norway sell more eVehicles than anywhere else in Europe).