Innovating Industrial Tools

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in industrial tools but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Nimo Rotem, Inventor of GRABO, located in Las Vegas, NV, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

GRABO is a revolutionary new power tool unlike anything else on the market. We own two factories where we engineer, design, manufacture, and sell our power tools worldwide. The GRABO tool is essentially an electric suction cup that can grip onto just about any surface and hold up to 375 lbs / 120 kgs of weight. This tool can help in many areas — to lift, move, or install material, or to stabilize onto a surface, or act as a temporary but strong handle on any surface.

Tell us about yourself

My name is Nimo, and I'm an engineer and inventor. I founded Nemo Power Tools in 2013; still to this day, it's the world's only power tool line that is completely waterproof. We had been working on a project for a naval defense contractor, and I saw a need for power tools to be submerged underwater; I got to work and created a full line of power tools that are submergible down to 100 meters deep. I am always looking for that certain need in the world, and once I find it, my engineering mind gets to work on inventing a new product. After several years of running the Nemo Power Tools brand, we finally got to a stage where it was self-sufficient, and I found time to invent the next one-of-a-kind tool, the GRABO, which launched in 2019. I've been very lucky to land two home-run, one-of-a-kind products.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

When I launched the GRABO, I knew that there would be a market for it in some capacity, but I had no idea that it would find its way into so many drastically different markets. The original conceit came from a rock climbing trip I was on. I was up on a rock wall and thought it would be great to have some sort of product that could "Grabo" onto that textured rock wall to make it easier to grip and climb. After only four years, our tools are in nearly every area of construction and manufacturing.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Initially, it was finding and raising capital to fund the projects; manufacturing isn't cheap. The time it took to build the first few working prototypes and then sourcing all the raw materials for test runs took some time. Once we had some sort of financial backing, it was time to find the right team. It takes a lot of highly educated and talented team members to keep this global operation running, from engineers, designers, management, sales, and marketing down to the team members with boots on the ground, keeping our tools working and moving globally.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

It takes time and sacrifice. If you are trying to start something, a business, or launch a product, be aware there will be sleepless nights, and it will be expensive. Anything with a higher yield in return will require a lot of risk from you. Protect yourself legally, but get feedback from friends and family and put it out there in your market to hear any helpful and constructive criticism. With GRABO tools, my team and I always have ears to the ground trying to understand how we can be better, where the weak points are, and what customers want from our tools.