Meet the Panelists: Four Founders Talking About the Future of Smart Home Products
Technology
In the first of a two-part event series, we are bringing together four panelists for a conversation about what smart home products mean today.
Topics covered include: where at-home smart products are heading and how they might be leading the way for more responsible and sustainable consumption, where consumers can embrace a do-it-yourself mindset – and ultimately, exercise more autonomy over that consumption, particularly in a post-COVID-19 world.
Meet the speakers joining us:
Moritz Waldstein-Wartenberg, CEO & Co-founder of Mitte
In 2016 Moritz co-founded Mitte to revolutionize the way we drink water at home, driven by the mission to build sustainable hydration solutions to provide healthy hydration for every body.
“I love the idea of creating a sustainable product that’s also beautiful in form and usage.”
Why is healthy hydration at home particularly relevant now and for the future?
“Mitte’s at-Home hydration is driven by the universal need for a more sustainable hydration option when compared to bottled water. The corona crisis is a catalyst to this long-term trend and accelerates the movement to a more sustainable, de-central, and personal consumption of water.”
Valerie Song, CEO & Co-founder of AVA Technologies Inc
BC 30 Under 30 winner Valerie Song is the CEO of AVA, a startup making smart indoor gardens to help people grow food at home. Under her leadership, AVA has gone to raise $180K in crowdfunding, $3M in funding, and 15 different awards around the world.
“Our mission at AVA is to give the gift of growing. After working at companies aiming to leave the Earth better than you find it, I was really inspired to take action and help people reconnect back to nature, even if they were people like me who lived in apartments and had limited space and no backyard.”
Why is the smart garden industry relevant now, and in the future?
“COVID-19 exposed many of these key issues and has accelerated the need for increased quality of life, right at home.
In fact, more families than ever are cooking at home and plan on continuing increased home cooking post-pandemic. 1 in 5 Canadians are trying gardening for the first time ever during the pandemic, and 50% overall are gardening. 79% of Shoppers ordered groceries online last year, although 81% did not the year before. The numbers show that more people are shifting behaviors dramatically and demanding increased options to access food, year-round, from the comfort of home, even if they have to grow it themselves. This is why we saw the top smart garden brands triple in revenue starting from last year – people are ready to make a lasting change!”
Sahand Dilmaghani, Founder & CEO of Terra Kaffe
Sahand Dilmaghani is the Founder & CEO of Terra Kaffe, a startup on a mission to transform the in-home coffee experience – starting with a super-automatic, podless espresso machine
“I was quite keen to keep our mission for Terra Kaffe of ‘elevating the home experience’ a bit broad in order to offer our company a sort of creative freedom and ability to go down many paths that lead to Terra Kaffe enriching people’s morning routines, be it through quality, design, sustainability, and/or simplicity.”
Why is fully-automatic and sustainable coffee at home particularly relevant now, and for the future?
“Fully-automatic espresso machines are a ‘best of both worlds’ option. It combines the convenience that consumers need when it comes to their morning coffee (previously being provided by single-use coffee pods/capsules), with the more aspirational consumption of fresh bean-to-cup coffee that they seek. As the world moves more towards end-to-end sustainable options for consumption, it will be important to eliminate any superfluous materials and products from the equation. We’re essentially moving this category forward by bringing us back to the simplicity that we previously had.”
“I felt there was – and still is – a movement happening around the world of people making a conscious effort to consume more aspirationally and sustainably, and given how much coffee is a ritualistic pillar of our daily lives, it was an incredible territory for us, as a brand, to begin on that mission.”
Patrick Nennewitz, Co-founder of KALEA
Patrick Nennewitz is the Co-founder of KALEA, a venture that focuses on developing innovative solutions to improve composting at home – with a sustainable vision in mind.
“KALEA’s purpose “turn today’s waste into tomorrows happiness” describes for me a world without waste, everything can and should be a resource to enable a sustainable life for future generations.”
Why is combining nature with smart technology particularly relevant now, and for the future?
“In the short term, smart, “sustainable” technology can help us to make our time more enjoyable while staying at home to fight COVID. In the long run, I think there is simply no other way than combining nature with smart technology to ensure a bright future. Only with technology we can restore a healthy balance between consumerism and nature.”
If you haven’t already, register here to join the event. See you there!
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