Sunrise Medical, known for its advanced assistive mobility solutions, has completed its strategic acquisition of Ride Designs, known for its premium custom seating systems for wheelchair users. This acquisition marks a significant expansion of Sunrise Medical’s custom seating offerings, clinical expertise, and service capabilities, complementing the extensive range of manual and powered mobility products Sunrise Medical already offers.
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Denver, Colo., USA, Ride Designs designs and delivers highly specialized seating systems for wheelchair riders. In recent years, Ride Designs has also been successfully developing, implementing, and optimizing the advanced 3D printing technologies for mass production of such highly customized products.
The company has succeeded by adhering to a set of core principles backed by the in-depth expertise of its founders Tom Hetzel and Joe Bieganek, and the heritage from the prosthetics and orthotics industry, which include direct rider engagement through the Aspen Seating Clinic. In addition, the portfolio of Ride Designs benefits from evidence-based product and technology development supported by broad collaborations and research with reputable institutions and universities. This ensures that the company’s innovations are always well integrated with user centric approach and science-backed data. The market reach of Ride Designs, through extensive clinical education and certification of skilled complex rehabilitation technology clinicians and providers, also demonstrates a steadfast commitment to clinically differentiated solutions that are optimized to personalized customer care.
“We are very excited to welcome Ride Designs into the Sunrise Medical family,” says Thomas Babacan, president and CEO of Sunrise Medical. “We firmly believe that this acquisition has high strategic importance and offers mutual benefits for both parties. By joining forces with Ride Designs, Sunrise Medical adds a high-end custom seating offering to our Seating and Positioning product portfolio, similar to RGK for the manual wheelchairs range and Magic for the power wheelchairs range. The acquisition not only addresses and significantly expands the broad spectrum of seating and positioning requirements for wheelchair riders worldwide, but also brings highly valuable clinical expertise and advanced 3D printing technologies and competences into the Sunrise Medical group. Together with Ride’s seasoned management team and highly skilled workforce, Sunrise Medical now has an even stronger product range, clinical expertise, and operational competences to offer the best suited seating solutions to all wheelchair riders. This optimizes their mobility in terms of clinical functionality, comfort, posture, and skin integrity.”
Tom Hetzel, CEO and co-founder of Ride Designs, commented: “We are thrilled to become part of the Sunrise Medical group. Ride Designs has always been dedicated to helping wheelchair riders achieve the best possible fit to enhance their quality of life. This aligns seamlessly with Sunrise Medical’s mission of improving people’s lives.”
He continued, “Ride Designs and the Aspen Seating Clinic have long been pioneers in specialized seating development. We are especially proud of our latest 3D printing technology manufacturing capabilities. We are very passionate to bring our advanced, clinically differentiated solutions to as many riders as possible. The strengths of the two companies complement each other very well. Sunrise Medical’s existing comprehensive mobility offering, global sales networks, business resources, and infrastructure will significantly accelerate Ride’s global outreach and expansion. We are committed to providing uncompromising solutions to address skin and postural challenges, and we believe that Sunrise Medical is our strongest partner in achieving our mission.”
Ride Designs is Sunrise Medical’s most recent acquisition. Other successful strategic acquisitions in 2022 include The Helping Hand Company, a UK-based company specializing in pressure management and pediatric products, and Budapest-headquartered NOW Technologies, a technological research and development company focusing on digital and software innovations of wheelchair control systems. In 2020, Sunrise Medical also acquired James Leckey Design, along with its subsidiaries Firefly Friends and Vida Global, a global leader in specialized pediatric therapeutic devices, as well as Oracing, a Spanish designer and manufacturer of innovative made-to-measure sports wheelchairs and power assist products. With the Ride Designs acquisition, Sunrise Medical and Ride Designs aim to revolutionize the world of custom seating and further empower wheelchair riders to live their lives to the fullest.
