Baby-grow that grows with baby wins start-up prize for students

A romper suit that fits growing babies for longer has been named student business project of the year by Vlajo, an association that supports young entrepreneurs in Flanders. The product, which is already on sale, is the idea of five business students from Hasselt University.

“As all parents know, a baby grows very quickly during its first year, so we came up with a romper that is three sizes in one,” explained Seppe Lecis, the chief executive of IZI-fit. The romper’s adjustable panels accommodate eight months of growth. “This means parents don’t have to buy new romper suits for every size, which of course is a nice savings.”

In addition to recognising the product’s innovative, practical design, the Vlajo jury also appreciated IZI-fit’s environmental credentials and branding, which features a cute polar bear mascot.

“The prize is nice recognition for our work, but we are even more enthusiastic about the many positive reactions we’ve received from parents who have already bought our romper suits,” said Lecis. “We have photos of their babies wearing them on our Facebook pages, and it’s fantastic to see that our product, which we came up with as students, has caught on.”

In fact, it has been so popular that the rompers are sold out. As well as restocking, the company’s next challenge will be to represent Flanders at the Europe Enterprise Challenge competition in Oslo at the end of June.

Vlajo also named Pleduco, developed by pupils at the Sint-Ludgardis secondary school in Merksem, the mini-company of the year. With the slogan “Play to Learn”, the economics students developed a card game that helps children and adults learn Dutch.

The jury liked its combination of learning, socialising and cultural mixing, and the fact that it involved taking a break from addictive social media to play a game with others.