Executive summary
Safety Pitch is a transactable IP and product-platform — not a lone gadget seeking a factory. One anchored, pitch-adjustable base creates a level working interface on a sloped roof and drives three separable commercial applications. The owners seek a strategic license, field-of-use license, OEM arrangement, or acquisition with a manufacturer that already sells ladders, scaffolding, pump-jack systems, fall protection, or roof-access equipment.
A recognized interface gap
Existing equipment gets a worker to the roof and protects them once there. Nothing purpose-built stabilizes the connection between that equipment and the pitched surface itself.
Pending IP + prototype
Published international application, a second-generation physical prototype, engineering/CAD documentation, and a public showcase at NSC Congress & Expo 2024.
A strategic transaction
Field-of-use exclusive licensing preferred; full-platform license or outright assignment available where economics justify. Indicative current-state assignment: $150K–$500K.
Investment thesis
- Adjacency, not invention. The asset monetizes the interface layer between equipment contractors already own and the surfaces where it underperforms — no new category education required.
- Asset-light for the owners. Value is captured by licensing into existing manufacturing, distribution, dealer, rental, and training infrastructure rather than building an operating company.
- Regulatory pull. Mandatory U.S. and Canadian ladder-stability and securement rules frame the underlying problem as non-discretionary, not a nice-to-have.
- Optionality. Three separable fields of use create multiple monetization paths and let the seller run logical buyers in parallel to build competitive tension.
- Defensibility. A pending international patent lets a strategic incumbent own — or deny a rival — a defensible adjacency to an existing ladder, scaffold, or fall-protection line.
- De-risking is legible. The gap to a premium outcome is a defined checklist — load testing, production BOM, field trials, claim confirmation — not open-ended R&D.
The asset
International publication WO/2025/038888; PCT application PCT/US2024/042570 filed 15 Aug 2024; U.S. priority application 18/449,906, priority date 15 Aug 2023. Applicants/inventors: Robert Manganelli and Michael Mastalir.
Patent and national-phase status to be stated in transaction documents exactly as confirmed by patent counsel at the time of outreach.
Second-generation physical prototype, engineering/CAD drawings, and a public demonstration at the National Safety Council Congress & Expo 2024 New Product Showcase.
A single base — configured, not redesigned, per use case — integrates the functions below. Configuration determines the application.
- Pitch adjustment for the working slope
- Ladder stop / retention interface
- Roof anchoring and contact features
- Pump-jack pole accommodation
- Plank-support functionality
Three commercial applications
Pitched-surface ladder access
A stable, level interface for placing and securing a ladder on a sloped surface. The highest-frequency need across roofing, solar, inspection, exterior construction, and maintenance.
Pump-jack / scaffold support
A purpose-built pitched-surface base for pump-jack scaffold poles, replacing improvised field blocking. Strongest fit for manufacturers already selling poles, stages, and roof brackets.
Elevated walking / work platform
Platform architecture that supports planks for a level working surface on a pitched roof. Competes with entrenched roof-jack and walk-board setups; most valuable when bundled.
Market position
| Frame | Definition |
|---|---|
| Total opportunity | Work-at-height equipment across roofing, solar, inspection, exterior construction, and property maintenance — U.S. lead, with Canada, Europe, and Australia as additional markets. |
| Serviceable beachhead | U.S. roofing as the primary market, with solar installation and exterior trades as the nearest adjacent users. |
| Obtainable via channel | Licensed unit royalties realized through a single strategic manufacturer's existing dealer, rental, and distribution network. |
1 · Ladder access — highest-frequency need, broadest base. 2 · Pump-jack base — narrower but strong product-line fit, lower competition. 3 · Walking platform — faces low-cost roof-jack alternatives; strongest bundled.
Rental lowers adoption friction for intermittent users and generates utilization, durability, and demand data that strengthens the seller's position in licensing negotiations.
Why a manufacturer should care
Own the interface
Incumbents sell what gets a worker up and what protects them there. Safety Pitch fills the untenanted space between that equipment and the pitched surface.
No new customer base
The same contractors already buy ladders, roof brackets, pump-jack systems, anchors, harnesses, and walk boards through established professional channels.
Leverage existing scale
Manufacturing, distribution, dealer, rental, training, and sales infrastructure already exist. The seller does not need to build any of it.
Extend or block
Control of the platform differentiates a ladder or scaffold line, extends an ecosystem, and denies a direct competitor the same adjacency.
Attach-rate upside
Three configurations from one base create cross-sell against equipment the buyer already ships, lifting revenue per account.
Safety-forward narrative
A tangible answer to a recognized jobsite hazard supports brand, differentiation, and specification-driven selling.
Regulatory relevance — U.S. & Canada
| Jurisdiction | Authority | Mandatory requirement |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 29 CFR 1926.1053(b)(6)–(8) | Ladders used only on stable, level surfaces unless secured against displacement; addresses slippery surfaces and securement where activity or traffic can displace a ladder. |
| United States | 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(13) | Fall protection for residential work 6 ft or more above lower levels, subject to specified alternatives and exceptions. |
| Canada (federal) | SOR/86-304 s.3.11(2),(4) | Portable ladders placed on firm footing and secured against accidental dislodgement; access ladders extend at least three rungs above the upper level. |
| Ontario | O. Reg. 213/91 s.82 | Adequate landing surface; ladder secured top and bottom to prevent movement for access and egress between levels. |
- +Intended to improve ladder stability and securement on pitched surfaces.
- +Relevant to mandatory ladder-stability requirements.
- +May help contractors address applicable securement obligations when properly engineered, installed, and used.
- −“OSHA-approved,” “government-approved,” or “automatically compliant.”
- −That it replaces personal fall-arrest, guardrail, or safety-net systems.
- −Any compliance claim independent of jobsite configuration, installation, use, and jurisdiction.
Strategic buyer landscape
Prime strategic targets
Secondary targets
Not the buyer — the proof
Transaction architecture
Field-of-use exclusive
Monetize the ladder, pump-jack, and walking-platform fields separately, aligning each with a manufacturer that already owns the relevant channel.
Full-platform exclusive
Superior where one Tier-1 values all three verticals and pays an exclusivity premium backed by minimum performance obligations.
Outright assignment
Immediate cash and clean exit; forfeits long-term participation. Indicative current-state range $150K–$500K, strategic-motivation dependent.
Upfront license fee · running royalty on net wholesale sales · annual minimums · milestone payments · defined field and territory · commercialization deadlines · audit rights · sublicensing economics · reversion / termination if performance thresholds are missed.
Valuation framework
$150K–$500K analytical range, reflecting prototype-stage risk, no scaled manufacturing history, and the buyer's need to complete technical and commercial validation.
A 5% net-wholesale royalty modeled as a negotiating case — not a market guarantee. Actual economics depend on unit cost, exclusivity, territory, patent position, testing, and minimum commitments.
| Annual volume | Net wholesale | Royalty / unit @ 5% | Annual royalty (gross) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 units | $995 | $49.75 | ~$248,750 |
| 15,000 units | $995 | $49.75 | ~$746,250 |
| 30,000 units | $995 | $49.75 | ~$1,492,500 |
A strategic acquirer may value the IP above a simple royalty NPV where it completes a product ecosystem, secures channel exclusivity, blocks a competitor, or enables international expansion. Competitive tension among logical buyers is therefore the single largest driver of price.
Unit economics — working case
| Line | Working case |
|---|---|
| Suggested retail | $1,595 |
| Wholesale | $995 |
| Early prototype cost | $2,338 |
| Production target cost* | ~$400 |
| Gross profit / unit* | ~$520 |
| Gross margin* | ~52% |
| Rental case | Estimated rate |
|---|---|
| Daily | $75–$125 |
| Weekly | $250–$400 |
| Monthly | $500–$750 |
Do not sell on theoretical market size. Sell the strategic fit: an existing professional customer, established distribution, a recognized safety problem, a physical prototype, and three monetizable configurations.
Diligence readiness
| Diligence item | Current state | Evidence available | Gap to close | Buyer risk if unaddressed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patent status | Pending; PCT published | WO/2025/038888; PCT/US2024/042570 | National-phase entries and grant, per counsel | Timing and grant uncertainty |
| Claim scope | To be confirmed from as-filed claims | Published application text | Independent claim-scope and freedom-to-operate opinion | Scope narrower than positioned |
| Ownership / title | Inventors named as applicants | Manganelli & Mastalir on file | Recorded assignment to transacting entity; releases | Chain-of-title defects |
| Regulatory applicability | Mapped as relevant, not approved | OSHA / Canada / Ontario citations | Written engineering–regulatory matrix | Overstated compliance exposure |
| Structural capacity | Gen-2 prototype; not independently tested | Prototype, CAD, engineering drawings | Third-party structural / load testing to standard | Unverified performance |
| Product compliance | Not certified or listed | — | Applicable consensus-standard testing / listing | Certification cost and lead time |
| Valuation | Owner analytical range | $150K–$500K; 5% royalty case | Independent appraisal; validated cost; LOIs | Assumptions unvalidated |
Value-enhancement roadmap
- Independent structural / load testing
- Licensed engineering review
- Production-ready BOM and quotation
- Documented contractor field trials
- Demonstration video across all three configurations
- Letters of interest
- Distributor feedback
- Rental trials and utilization data
- Setup-time comparisons
- Documented contractor use
A written engineering / regulatory matrix mapping intended functions to applicable OSHA, Canadian federal, provincial, and consensus standards — without asserting approval.
Broker engagement plan
Package the asset
Concise prospectus, patent-status schedule from counsel, prototype / CAD library, engineering summary, regulatory matrix, and valuation model.
Approach Tier-1 in parallel
Engage prime strategic targets concurrently to create competitive tension — not an extended sequential negotiation with one party.
Lead with field-of-use
Offer field-of-use structures first while retaining the option of a full-platform exclusive or sale where the economics justify releasing all three verticals.
De-risk to reprice
Use testing, field validation, and manufacturing-cost evidence to move the discussion from prototype to commercially de-risked platform.
Safety Pitch is an available pitched-surface platform with three configurations — stable ladder access, a pump-jack / scaffold base, and an elevated plank platform. It solves the difficult interface between conventional work-at-height equipment and a sloped roof, is backed by prototype and CAD development, and its ladder application is directly relevant to mandatory stability and securement rules in the U.S. and Canada. The owners seek a strategic license, field-of-use, OEM, or acquisition with an established manufacturer — not to build a manufacturing company.
