Borderless Inc. is a product design firm, established in 2012 in Tokyo by Arata Oono. While the company handles design for many clients, the CrossHelmet is its’ first own product and the backbone of the company. Arata Oono, the CEO and chief designer at Borderless inc., first conceived the idea for the CrossHelmet in 2011, and started working on it on January 2014.
On September 2017 CrossHelmet launched a crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter, in which the company more than tripled its’ funding goal of $100,000 USD. That, combined with additional seed and series A funding rounds, brings the company’s total funding to $1.7M.
On October 30th 2018 CrossHelmet will launch an Indiegogo Indemand pre-order shop,The inspiration to the helmet came from the discomfort of wearing a full-face helmet and the lack of major progress in the helmet industry in the past few decades. Even today, the comforts of technology are not translated into a seamless and integrated option for motorcycle riders. when riders are touring, they often lose their way or become stressed due to the noise. Even while riding with friends, communication methods are still limited. Despite having new styling, the same old helmets have been around the market for a very long time. This stagnant situation in the world of helmets, pushed Borderless Inc. into thinking of ways to utilize the company’s design and technological powers to create the helmet of the future and to offer a complete new experience to motorcyclists.
The team:
The Borderless team is made up of world class engineers and designers who have worked at Yamaha, Nikon, and Sony on products like the Yamaha MT-09 and the Walkman. The company has extensive experience developing and manufacturing motorcycles and electronics in Japan, Europe and North America.
The founder:
Arata Oono is the founder, CEO and chief designer at CrossHelmet. Since an early age he was always intrigued by making things, sketching and designing, and he dreamt of becoming a designer since his early teens. Arata has always had a passion for riding, and was 17 when he got his first motorcycle. At the time, when he first tried on a full-face helmet, he realized how uncomfortable and confining it can feel. This is what sparked the idea in arata’s mind to improve and develop the traditional helmet.
Arata currently rides a Husqvarna SMS630. Arata’s dream collection of bikes includes a Norton manx, BMW R32 and MV Agusta F4 Serie Oro. Before establishing Borderless Inc in 2012, Arata was a product designer at GK Design Group where he worked on a number of domestic and international projects for Yamaha Motor Co including designing the MT-09. He holds a degree in design and industrial design from Tokyo University of the Arts.