Our Story

The Kase is Klear

It’s a fact: most mobile gadgets are not built to withstand the demands of mobile life. KlearKase, LLC was founded by a group of technology veterans who have personally experienced this problem in the form of several broken devices. When we looked at the cases available on the market, we did not find the right balance of design and protection required for every-day use. We wanted a case that we could leave on our gadgets all the time. We wanted a case that protected and sealed 100% of our devices. And we wanted a case that emphasized the designs that attracted us to them in the first place. The solution was KlearKase: a line of fully sealed, transparent, life-proof cases.

Life-Proof Protection – For Life

At KlearKase, we build protective layers. We know you already love how your gadget looks, so our transparent cases add a layer of protection to your gadget while emphasizing its design. We enable your device to be safely used at the beach, around kids, next to a swimming pool, on a picnic, or in any other environment where it can get wet, dirty, and dropped. Real protection is delivered by covering and sealing 100% of your device while enabling access to all functionality. The KlearKase is designed to be an added layer of protection for your device, and not something that you constantly pull on and off. Install it once for truly life-proof protection, for the life of your product.

First Up: The Kindle

Our first products are for the Amazon Kindle. We have more in the works. We’d love to hear from you as to what you’d like to see next. Or, join our mailing list. If you tell us which gadget you have, we’ll let you know when the KlearKase for it launches.

The Team

Bob McKenzie, Founder & CEO

Bob McKenzie’s passion for creating mobile electronic devices has spanned more than 20 years and addressed scenarios in completely different environments. His first diagnostic mobile device at SpaceLabs Medical Instruments recorded a person’s heart waves while they went about their normal day-to-day life. He then spent six years working at the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington creating mobile devices to collect and analyze ocean acoustic data for naval surface ships and submarines. He lastly found himself managing Microsoft’s automotive business creating the devices that would provide navigation, information, and entertainment for those moving around in their cars. Over his career he has learned the lessons of creating robust devices that would survive the harsh environments in life; to make these devices Life-Proof to the accidents and day-to-day stresses to which we often subject them. He is an avid reader and loves his very thin, light weight but somewhat fragile e-book. He personally connected with the KlearKase vision to provide protection to his mobile electronic device while maintaining the special value and enjoyment that the device brings to his life.

David Vaillancourt, Founder & Director of Manufacturing
Dave Vaillancourt has a zeal for both technology and water and an innovator’s problem-solving passion for how the two can successfully mix. His long-standing enthusiasm for anything water-related began as a child with his passion for Unlimited Hydroplane. Over the years he has taken this passion and combined it with his entrepreneurial spirit to create successful products that address water-proofing issues. In addition to the KlearKase venture he has developed and patented, under the Seal Shield brand, the first dishwasher-safe anti-microbial keyboard and mouse for use in hospitals and medical facilities worldwide. Dave is a 20-year veteran focused on product development, manufacturing and importing and an expert in the high-tech electronics and RC market. Working with manufacturers and companies in China and the U.S., Dave has produced over 18 million units of products for his many corporate customers including: Microsoft, Costco, Nordstrom’s, Target, Kimberly Clarke, Best Buy, Coke, Miller brewing, Absolute, Oberto, and Formula Boat.

Dick Brass, Founder & Board of Directors

Dick Brass is a technology investor, inventor, and veteran tech executive. After a career as a reporter and then editor at the New York Daily News, Dick entered the technology field in the late 1970s when he developed the first dictionary-based spelling checker and invented the electronic thesaurus. In 1987 he joined Oracle as a vice president, where he worked until he was recruited by Microsoft to lead the company’s e-book and then tablet PC and other mobile device efforts. He’s no stranger to e-reading, having managed Microsoft’s team that invented ClearType which improves the readability of characters and graphics on nearly every modern LCD screen, from pocket devices to 21+ inch monitors. Dick provided the founding vision of KlearKase, inspired as most advances are in the tech industry – out of personal experience with multiple broken Kindles.

Will Poole, Founder & Board of Directors

Will Poole started working with mobile electronics in 1990 (for tech history buffs, that was the era of Grid, Go PenPoint, Apple Newton, and Eo) at a company called Ink Development, which morphed into eShop, a pioneer in online shopping. He spent a few more years working with mobile and touch devices while running Windows at Microsoft. His home office contains an entertaining collection of mobile electronics, most of which don’t work anymore. He’s seen plenty of devices die over the years due to water or shock or sand damage. When not helping KlearKase build products to protect your mobile devices, he is an independent social-technologist, primarily focused on applying technology to education. He is co-chairman of NComputing, which shipped its second millionth virtual desktop in early 2010, deployed largely in schools in emerging markets. He also serves on the Board of Pengala (education software), and the University of Washington Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences.