After an unexpected illness, I suddenly found myself on a twice-a-day pill routine. My doctor and pharmacy were great—they even suggested a reminder app to help me stay on track. At first, I thought it was a good idea, but between “digital fatigue” and the fact that my phone wasn’t always in the bathroom with me, I fell off pretty quickly.
Even though I was motivated to take my meds, I kept second-guessing myself. I’d stare at the bottle in the morning wondering, Did I take last night’s pill? Should I skip it? Double up? By the end of the first month, I had five extra pills. By the second month, nine. That’s when it hit me: what seemed simple was actually hard to keep up with.
Turns out, I’m not alone. Almost half of all prescriptions aren’t taken as directed, and the longer people are on a med, the more likely they are to fall off. It’s a huge public health problem—worse outcomes, higher costs, and preventable complications that cost the system hundreds of billions every year. Because the numbers are so large, even small gains matter. Just a 1% improvement in adherence could save Medicare and Medicaid $3 billion annually.
And yet, despite all the advances in modern medicine, the pill bottle hasn’t evolved much since child-resistant caps came out in 1973. That led us to ask:
What if taking medication could be easier—and something people stick to effortlessly?
Most solutions focus on fixing non-adherence after it happens. But that’s like trying to win back lost customers—it’s complicated, costly, and often ineffective. A smarter strategy is helping people who are trying stay on track so they don’t fall off in the first place.
That became our mission:
Keep it simple
Make it cost-effective
Make it scalable
We started with what people already do every day: open and close the cap. What if that action itself could help track doses and reinforce the habit?
That’s how RedCap was created. Inspired by Richard Thaler’s Nobel Prize–winning “nudge theory,” RedCap turns the everyday act of taking medicine into a subtle reminder system—using visual cues and a satisfying “click” to help build lasting habits. No apps, no batteries, no extra steps.
RedCap fits standard pill bottles, common dosing schedules, and high-speed fill lines. It can also be customized for look, feel, size, sound, or color—by your supplier or ours.
We’re proud to be building this in Massachusetts with incredible partners like Fikst Product Development (a Re:Build Manufacturing company), EPTAM Precision, F&M Tool & Die, and Roehr Tool Solutions.
At the core, our belief is simple: small changes can drive big impact. With 6 billion pill bottles used every year, we see a future where RedCap becomes the new standard—helping people stay on track, one dose at a time.
Stein Skaane, Co-founder
