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Thinking Outside the Field: Plant Nutrients—Without the Plant

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Quepatagra
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Nutri-tech start-up Novella leverages advanced technology to grow botanical ingredients outside the field.

Nutri-tech start-up Novella, Ltd., is opening a new chapter in climate-resilient environments through nutrient cultivation. The company leveraged proprietary technology to grow nutritious botanical ingredients while leaving the whole plant out of the equation. This novel platform in the plant world will help boost global accessibility to high-value nutraceuticals. 

Addressing the growing demand for botanical micronutrients, the new technology overcomes supply chain disruptions, circumvents climate change, and expands plant life cycles. 

“We don’t need the whole plant to get access to specific bioactive compounds,” explains Kobi Avidan, CEO and co-founder of Novella. “It also isn’t necessary to discard up to 99% of a plant and incur tons of agricultural waste just to derive specific nutrients. We have the technology where we can narrow the harvest of an entire field for its plant essence in a single bioreactor.”

Field-to-bottle fails

The traditional “field to bottle” protocol for producing nutraceuticals involves a long, complex, and often vexing process of lengthy cultivation and labor-intensive harvesting of sensitive botanicals, and the use of vast stretches of agricultural land. Then, the raw materials must be transferred—often overseas—to a factory for extraction before transfer to another factory, often in yet another country, for formulation into a final supplement. This can also lead to difficulties in achieving standardized doses of the natural substances.

The supply chain for botanical extracts is continuously at the mercy of the natural growth cycles of the plants, volatile environmental conditions, climate fluctuations, and social and economic constraints. These have been further compounded by recent political instabilities and logistical hurdles which have yet to recover from the pandemic era.

All of these setbacks hit the nutraceutical business at a time when it is experiencing its greatest boom ever, attaining a global value of billions of US dollars. This has put further immense strain on industry to meet demand, as well as on the planet’s finite resources.

Thinking outside the field

Rather than grow the whole plant, Novella screens specific plant tissues—including stems, fruit, leaves, and flowers—to determine the highest concentrations of desired actives. A cell culture (callus) is formed from these tissues and amplified in bioreactors. This results in a pure, pesticide-free powdered product composed of whole-cell plant tissues with their naturally occurring complex of nutrients intact.

Novella’s cultivation system eliminates the need for extraction by increasing the concentration of the actives within the plant cells themselves, which are contained in a natural protective shell to prevent oxidation. This also assures full bioavailability.

“Growing nutrients outside the plant is actually a simpler process than growing meat cells outside of the cow,” explains Avidan “Moreover, we can now cultivate any ingredient close to the market of interest. This will be instrumental in lowering costs, as well as lightening their ecological footprint.”

The start-up will grow the ingredients in a controlled, strictly non-GMO environment, with precise regulation of stressors such as light and temperature in order to create an ideal environment for cultivation of specific bioactives at consistently potent and highly precise quantities. 

Novella has made headway in exploring certain vegetables, such as kale, for sourcing some popular in demand vitamins and antioxidants. Although hailed as a nutrient-dense “super plant,” many consumers avoid kale due to its bitter flavor and tough, fibrous texture.

“Kale has captured the interest of the functional food, supplement, and pharma industries due to its long list of vitamins and minerals,” asserts Shimrit Bar-El, PhD, co-founder and CRO of Novella. “But it is very difficult to work with and process. We are specifically exploring the vegetable for its vitamin K and unique carotenoid composition.”

Novella can grow any type of plant tissue but currently is focusing on the cultivation of a few high-end botanicals, including some widely consumed vegetables that boast potent concentrations of nutrients such as vitamin C that cannot be extracted via existing methods. 

“Consumers continue to demand products that are microbiologically safe, natural, and without chemical additives,” explains Itay Dana, B.Sc., MBA, co-founder and BDO for Novella. “There is an increasing demand for natural botanicals, accompanied by incremental rises in prices resulting from a shortage of such products.”

“By shifting the cultivation of popular micronutrients to the lab, the Novella platform can help free up extensive agricultural terrain for rededication to the growth of food crops while making high-value nutraceutical ingredients more readily available at affordable prices,” concludes Dana.

Source NutriPR

Believe in your idea

By
Quepatagra
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0

YesColours: Feelgood paints in astonishing colours

Please introduce yourself and your startup YesColours to our readers!

J&E: Hi! We are John and Emma, co-founders of the eco-conscious homegrown paint brand, YesColours.

Targeted at the new generation of home improvers, we have created Europe’s first fully recyclable pouch which aims to cut consumer waste and stop paint tins from going straight to landfill.

It’s not just our revolutionary packaging that makes us stand out from the crowd. We are turning the industry on its head to reinvent what it means to be a truly eco-friendly company. Our recyclable pouches start from 1litre, helping to avoid over-ordering at the point of purchase – one the main reasons for the waste generated in the UK. 

Customers can breathe easy knowing we’ve left out any harmful chemicals such as VOCs, APEs, NPEs and microplastics. These important details mean our paint is completely safe for you, your family, your pets and the environment. 

YesColours is more than just paint, we’ve carefully curated a palette using colour theory to support wellbeing through a collection of feel-good shades, whether Joyful or Serene, Friendly or Electric.

Putting people and the planet first is truly at the forefront of every decision we make. We recognise that we need to do our part at making a difference, which is why you’ll spot YesColours in the likes of Sheffield Children’s Hospital. We’ve also partnered with numerous community spaces and mental health charities such as Place2be, Rethink, MindOut as well as NIP cancer recovery.

How did you get the idea of YesColours?

J&E: The initial idea was based around finding a solution to a common problem: trying to recycle paint tins. Currently, only 2% of paint waste gets recycled, with over 55 million litres of paint and 14,000 tonnes of tins going to landfill every year. We put our design experience into action and innovated a completely new type of packaging, one that can be recycled in the home and save time and waste for our customers, cutting out waste at the point of purchase.

We were inspired to create a paint brand that changes the way we decorate for the better, without compromising on colour.

Why did you decide to start with YesColours?

J&E:  The way design can impact how we live has always been fascinating to us. Coming from the branding, product and digital design world —the intersection of how we live, work and travel and how design can impact all of these is astonishing. Creating a space which can improve your mental health, make you feel safe, relaxed or uplifted has never been more important.

So, when considering the home, our most valuable space, it’s important to choose materials, colours and products wisely to create a space that is not only liveable but enables you to live better.

YesColours, is the embodiment of these principles to make sure that if a customer chooses our products, they are doing so with their wellness, but also their creativity in-mind — we want to liberate home decor from the traditional approaches.

What is the vision behind YesColours?

J&E: In terms of the business strategy, this has evolved from a singular vision of how to tackle an environmental problem, to broader considerations around products and initiatives that we feel will have a benefit to our communities. Our considerations are now not only just DTC, but larger commercial projects and opportunities as well as brand partnerships.

We keep sustainability at the heart of how we operate, from our packaging to our supply chains, to our use of raw materials and supporting UK manufacturers. YesColours is Made in Britain accredited.

How difficult was the start and which challenges you had to overcome?

J&E: Supply chain management has most definitely been our biggest obstacle. Starting a business during unprecedented times has been a huge challenge, as it has for many others out there. 

However, without lockdown, we certainly wouldn’t be where we are. It’s enabled us to take the time required to get our brand, our values and our product exactly how we envisaged. 

After 20 years of friendship, having open communication every day is key to overcoming challenges. There are more joyous than difficult days. Humour is key and we’ve got that in bucketloads!

Who is your target audience?

J&E: Homeowners, renters and creatives. We aim to inspire a generation to rediscover their connection to colour with palettes that allow them to unlock their creative edge while being kind to the planet. 

What is the USP of your startup?

J&E: To inspire joy and optimism through feel-good paints in astonishing colours.

Our brand promise is the result of two passions and one commitment, which together are the beating heart of YesColours. First—we love colour. Second—we want to make people feel good, to inspire optimism and hope. Third—we’re committed to sustainability. Together, they establish a set of guidelines that bring our brand to life wherever and however our audiences interact with us. They define all that we do.

Can you describe your typical workday?

J&E: We go through our company’s email first and catch up with queries and orders, then look at our own emails for the day ahead. I’m (Emma) usually working on some form of colour content whether that’s mood boards for clients, creating colour reports or developing colours for new seasons.

There’s always a community project going on too, usually with one of the mental health charities we love to partner with such as Place2Be. 

We’re in an industry that’s going through some exciting changes and we like to think that we’re part of that. Working with such a creative community with a product that is inherently creative and diverse, gives so much room for exciting things to happen.   

The day will always start with a message first thing in the morning, often comical or something to give the other a boost. But so far, there’s never really a typical day! 

Where do you see yourself and your startup YesColours in five years?

J&E: Our mission is to create a future that nurtures creativity and celebrates different cultures to the benefit of our communities, and the world around us.  

Our ambition is also to grow YesColours beyond paints into other verticals — from homeware products to fabrics, to creative pop-ups and community spaces.

We’ll be expanding our product range, developing more innovative paints and packaging, and expanding our team. 

We have excitedly just launched our crowdfunding campaign with Seedrs, which will help us to make our ambitions a reality. 

What 3 tips would you give to founders?

Believe in your idea and always keep hold of that drive and passion which sparked the initial idea. 

Surround yourself with people who share your vision and can offer the skills and advice to help make your idea a reality

And be a nice human… That part really, really matters.

More information you will find here

Thank you John Stubbs and Emma Bestley for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

Keep doing what you are best at

By
Quepatagra
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0

Levana Nourishments Plant-Based Meal Replacements- with all the mandated nutritional elements of an actual meal

Please introduce yourself and your startup Levana Nourishments to our readers!

Throughout my career, I have always worked in the natural foods space, long before the public consciousness was raised about the importance of eating clean. Although I spent my student years studying for and earning a Master’s Degree in Psychology, my life work has been accomplished in several fields of the Natural Foods Industry: I co-owned Lévana Restaurant in Lincoln Center, which earned me the title of Pioneer of Upscale Kosher Dining; I had an all-natural catering service; And I wrote three cookbooks, my Magnum Opus being The Whole Foods Kitchen; I teach natural foods cooking regularly.  

Lévana Nourishments came as a natural next step.

How did you get the idea of Levana Nourishments?

When my husband was diagnosed with cancer, he became regularly subjected to intensive chemotherapy treatments. Although his response to the treatments was positive, he reached almost skeletal weight due to extreme appetite loss and inability to tolerate most foods, including all the standard institutional meal replacement products. I was put off by the high sugar content and synthetic ingredients found in many commercial nutritional powders. Drawing on my lifelong experience with natural foods and cooking, I decided to create my own, concentrated nutrition shake powder based on pure, simple and familiar plant-based ingredients.

Even in its first formulation, the result was a very promising and highly effective version of what eventually became the Levana Nourishments line of natural meal replacements. Even today, these powerful complete-meal shakes make up the lion’s share of my husband’s nutrition needs.

Why did you decide to start with Levana Nourishments?

I looked around me, and found precious few good choices when it came to complete meal replacements, made with real foods. Not all meal replacement shakes are created equal. Too often they contain synthetic and chemical ingredients. Also, many of them target weight loss or sport nutrition and are not designed to close a dietary gap or provide the whole-meal nutritional value that many consumers desperately need. This is where I saw my opportunity to make an essential difference in that space with a nutritious, plant-based meal replacement. My mantra became: create maximum nutrition in a minimum volume.  

What is the vision behind Levana Nourishments?

My vision is that the line I have developed will get a central spot in the Integrative Nutrition Community; that it is recognized not as just another protein powder or as another supplement, but as a valuable all-inclusive completely balanced meal replacement, with all the mandated nutritional elements of an actual meal: calories, protein, fat, fiber, minerals, amino acids. 

We were very mindful of every area of compliance, so as to accommodate all consumers: the line is low in sodium, non-GMO, certified natural, soy-free, nut-free, gluten-free, Kosher, sugar-free, dairy-free. 

How difficult was the start and which challenges you had to overcome?

The built-in challenge was that my husband’s dire straits forced me to be doubly creative and doubly productive even as I cared for him all day and all night. But seeing him regain his strength was the greatest encouragement and the greatest reward I could get. It was in fact his idea that I should take my project well beyond the confines of my own home to the larger public: it could help so many people!

The main challenge in developing the plant-based meal replacement line was to stay true to my vision and not compromise on the quality of the ingredients and make sure that the products will be clean-label.

Who is your target audience?

Our clean-label line of complete meal replacement shakes suits people with special dietary needs, picky eaters, children, and active persons who live on the go with little time to prepare meals.

What is the USP of your startup?

The USP of my line is that it results in visible well-being improvements, while using a short list of clean, plant-based ingredients. It also keeps you regular, which is the Holy Grail for people relying on supplemental nutrition. Too often we see a meal replacement achieve one health benefit at the cost of other benefits (where it provides enough protein it contains too much sugar, too many allergens, too much sodium, too little fiber, too many synthetic additives etc). 

Can you describe your typical workday? 

My days are arranged around tending to my husband’s needs, exploring possible collaboration with potential partners, and developing new exciting savory flavors in my meal replacement line.

Where do you see yourself and your startup Levana Nourishments in five years?

Because I have done so much of the groundwork to put the line in place, my ambition, my dream, is to partner up with Functional Foods and supplement companies that will recognize the value of what I have built and how many people it can help, We have created a working proof-of-concept and it is practically ready to go on to the market on a private label basis and we would like get commercialized with a partner that can take this line to health food stores.

What 3 tips would you give to founders?

1. Many of us do not work with an unlimited budget: this often turns out to be a blessing in disguise. Working with a small budget pushes every envelope: You will be delighted to get fully acquainted with your own resourcefulness, ingenuity and creativity. I believe this is precisely what will lead us to the bigger people and will make them want to work as a team with us and partner with us. Keep doing what you are best at, you will soon meet the people who can do some other essential things better than you can. 

2. You will often be exposed to conflicting and contradicting opinions and recommendations by well wishers, which will often result in diffidence and even discouragement. Listen to that still small voice that keeps whispering encouragement in your ear, and keep trucking! 

3. Your project might go through periods when it looks like nothing is happening. You started so long ago, and you didn’t get there yet. But your project is not the only thing going on: your regular life gets in the way! You should indeed be proud that even with the all-consuming undertaking you took on, your life with your loved ones, your friends and your community is going strong: enjoy their support and the togetherness they offer you. 

More information you will find here

Thank you Levana Kirschenbaum for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

How to Enter the Ride-Sharing Services Industry

By
Quepatagra
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0

Successful ride-sharing services businesses like Uber and Lyft can be an inspiration to launch your very own app that offers similar services.

In essence, you’re optimizing travel costs for people who are about to visit the same destination all while preserving the environment by keeping CO2 emissions to a minimum, making it a win-win proposition.

The question becomes, how to go about it? In this guide, we’ll briefly walk you through the steps involved.

1. Analyze the market

As any business-savvy entrepreneur is well aware of, market research always comes first. It could be that launching a ride-sharing app ends up being profitable in one region but not in another where you’d be competing against big players.

Then, you have to ask yourself whether there’s enough demand in the region you’re targeting. While there’s little point in offering ride-sharing services in the middle of the desert, a suburban area just might have enough inhabitants for the business venture to be worth the effort.

2. Double-check the local regulations

Since there are potential safety risks involved, you’re going to have to pay close attention to the local regulations and learn what to do to stay compliant. For starters, you’re going to have to verify the documents of drivers who’ll be signing up as service providers.

It’s a good idea to read up on NFC-based verification in mobility since it has become industry standard. Keep in mind that laws and regulations may differ from one region to another, so make sure to do your due diligence.

3. Plan out your monetization strategy

By examining how Uber monetizes its services, you’ll see that a commission is being charged upon successfully completing a ride. The reason being is that Uber acts as an intermediary between the driver and the customer, thus being able to charge a fee to connect the dots and bring the two parties together.

Although a commission-based monetization model seems to be standard in this industry, don’t forget to explore other alternatives. You could, for instance, decide to be different than your competitors and offer a credits-based system or charge a monthly membership fee that comes with its perks.

4. Develop the app

Unless you’re a coder yourself, you’re likely going to need to outsource the task. Even so, there are multiple ways to go about it, meaning you won’t necessarily need to code an entire app from scratch.

For instance, there are certain white-label apps you could re-skin and use for the purpose. Not only does this allow you to launch the app faster, it also keeps the development costs manageable. Still, you should look for ways to be better than your competition so as to give the users an incentive for doing business with you.

5. Initialize the marketing campaigns

Once your app is ready to go, how are you going to market it? If you’re hoping to get even a single booking, you need to make sure that people can find it and download it.

Consider marketing it via:

– Paid ads

– Social media

– Articles

– Videos

– Presentations

– Podcasts

– etc.

Since each of these marketing channels requires a completely separate approach, it’s on your to find the most suitable avenue for advertising your business, so allocate a budget, stick to it, and don’t give up.

Conclusion

Those who are looking to compete with the likes of Uber and Lyft certainly have some big shoes to fill. Even so, not every region is covered by these, so this may be your opportunity to dominate the local market.

Author: Andrea Clause

Picture: Mohamed Hassan/ Pixabay

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

Don’t compromise – on the vision, your team and your purpose

By
Quepatagra
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0

Flox is a revolutionary and intuitive metaverse event platform. It helps drives more engagement in virtual and hybrid events.

Please introduce yourself and your startup Flox to our readers.

I’m Alistair Bryan co-founder of Flox and on the right is my co-founder and CTO Jaie Genadt. I held senior leadership roles at global marketing groups including Havas, IPG and Omnicom, spearheading the technology experience offering for clients including Microsoft and American Express. Flox is a revolutionary and intuitive metaverse event platform. It helps drives more engagement in virtual and hybrid events.

How did you get the idea of Flox?

Having worked in physical real life events and seen the first virtual event platforms that came out we could see there was a need to create something new. Flox came from the idea of a murmuration of birds. The idea that the individual powers the collective experience. So we focussed on the individual user experience to create a far more creative collective one.

Why did you decide to start with Flox?

There was a great quote from Richard Branson “The best thing that can be said about webinars is they give you the sensation of being in a coma without the worry or inconvenience”. That’s the problem we wanted to solve: the 2D gallery view user interface and passive viewing. So we set out to create an active state with meaningful engagement and participation.

What is the vision behind Flox?

We want to create the most human and engaging virtual and hybrid events. Harnessing the ideas and creativity of each individual to fuel the power and progress of the collective.

How difficult was the start and which challenges you had to overcome?

It’s never easy starting a business, but we had a clear idea of what we wanted to achieve. Money and investment are always the difficult moments, but we were lucky enough to raise £1M quickly with investors who could see the market was growing and we had the experience to deliver. Then getting the first client was a big challenge, but we launched with a Fortune 500 global brand and then others, including two more Fortune 500 companies, came afterwards.

Who is your target audience?

Anyone that puts on a live event or experience – CMO’s, CXO, event management, HR directors to name a few. They want connection and collaboration that comes with social interaction, but also the digital sharing, recording and analysis their organisation needs. They might additionally have a sustainability or cost-saving agenda, so prefer a purely virtual platform instead of a virtual-physical hybrid.

Social connection is at the heart of Flox and has been built into our core product, with movement around virtual space and artificial intelligence helping users find and connect with the right people.

Beyond live events and experiences, our customer could be anyone building a ‘digital twin’ – an exact replica of a corporate headquarters, a retail environment or pop-up, a university campus, lab or surgery to make collaboration and education accessible and immediate.

What is the USP of your startup?

To create the most immersive and memorable virtual and hybrid events. With our backgrounds in events and experiential marketing we have created a platform that’s easy to use for event marketers by people who know what it takes to put on an event. We move extremely fast: we can be up and running in 10 days.

Flox’s metaverse offer is far superior to 2D digital alternatives by offering an experience that’s as close to in-person as you can get digitally. Attendees move their digital avatars (personalised to their face with scanning technology) around a defined space, with active intention and more freedom than you would ever get in a video conference.

Can you describe your typical workday ?

I get up about 6am. I don’t function without a cup of tea so the kettle is the first point of call. And I usually start messaging my business partner and co-founder Jaie about 7am. I get the kids off to school and then a dog walk or run (depending on the day) to collect my thoughts on the day ahead. We have a team stand up in the morning to check in on product, development, clients, prospects and the team.

Then it’s a mixture of demos, client meetings and team meetings afterwards. We are cloud-based so we make time to schedule calls – without meaning – to just catch up with the team and check in. We are opening up in the US so the afternoon tends to be more focussed on the calls with the West Coast. Then I finish the day with a check with Jaie and an understanding of what needs to be done next.

Where do you see yourself and your startup Flox in five years?

There are three things I’d like to have achieved:

1. People – a culture-rich and world-renowned integrated family of talent

2. Products – a suite of creative applications targeting Learning, Retail and Entertainment

3. Planet – reduced the CO2 impact of 10,000’s of events and be NETZERO

What 3 tips would you give to founders?

1. Do it now. I think wish I had started this journey years ago.

2. Go for it every day. Chase the leads, have the conversations and ask for what you want.

3. Don’t compromise – on the vision, your team and your purpose.

More information you will find here

Thank you Alistair Bryan for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

Pick the best team to start and don’t settle for convenience

By
Quepatagra
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0

Minimising false declines and optimising subscription billing

Please introduce yourself and your startup Revolv3 to our readers?

I’m Frank Arellano, founder and CEO of Revolv3, a fintech SaaS platform based in Laguna Beach, CA. I’m a versatile, top-tier techno-commercial executive with 20+ years of experience including, strategy, technology, business operations, client relationships, providing executive leadership and elevating the business to market leadership. I’m passionate about blending visionary insight and sharp business planning skills for strategizing global change initiatives and turnaround management. Being involved in creating and sustaining a dynamic work environment that fosters development opportunities and that motivates high performance amongst team members has been the key highlight thus far.

Before founding Revolv3, some of my career highlights include serving in a key leadership role at Experian Consumer Services, most recently as Vice President of Business Operations. Prior to Experian, I worked with Ingram Micro for 16 years, lastly as Snr Director of Corporate Development & Strategy. I’ve also successfully delivered turnaround of operations for 300+ B2C and B2B e-Commerce sites and strategically led a multi-billion dollar acquisition integration program, and established a global technology management office. 

I founded Revolv3 in 2020, as a full stack SaaS payment orchestration and optimization platform for subscription billing that utilises adaptive technology to deliver the industry’s highest credit card acceptance rates. Our seamless integration enables merchants to instantly achieve transformational revenue growth and superior customer retention at the lowest cost in the industry. We support our clients in achieving a frictionless transaction approval process. Since we want to reduce card processing fees for our clients, they only pay for successful transactions. This unparalleled approach we take in card processing makes us the only recurring billing platform that is solely focused on payment orchestration and optimization as part of our core offering.

How did you get the idea of Revolv3?

As an executive at multiple fortune 500 companies, I noticed that recurring billing had an unusually high customer churn rate associated with credit card declines. Turns out the majority of those were false declines, meaning they were good transactions just denied because of data errors in the processing network.

So I searched the marketplace for a solution and tried multiple 3rd-party payment platforms all of which failed to solve the problem. After confirming with a lot of other enterprises about what they were using and armed with lessons from the failed implementations, I concluded that there was a large market opportunity since large companies had to build their own bespoke systems and the cost to build and maintain was very high relative to what a third party platform would cost. Thus, the idea of Revolv3 was born, a unique payment system that could minimise false declines and maximise first pass payment approvals. All at a fraction of the cost for a bespoke system. 

Why did you decide to start with Revolv3?

Many years of searching for and ultimately coming up empty handed led to me having to build a bespoke billing and payments system. Nothing existed in the market to meet the demands of the enterprise business. By 2025 the size of the software subscription billing market will reach $10.5B, however, companies will spend ~$58.5B.  That is a significant delta that points to a gap in the market and supports the research on why all enterprises build their own. The opportunities this market presents is too great not to leverage.

What is the vision behind Revolv3?

Our mission is to disrupt the payment ecosystem with innovative breakthrough technology and thinking for the betterment of the system and the Merchants who rely on it. Revolv3 allows merchants and ISV platforms to focus on their core business while continually managing ongoing recommendations, whilst leveraging the benefits gained from teaming with an experienced payment orchestration and optimization partner.

How difficult was the start and which challenges you had to overcome?

Starting any business is difficult but starting during a global pandemic brought quite a few additional obstacles. Investors went dark, finding talent was challenging, the future of the economy and markets were at risk.  But we kept building with hopes that things would bounce back. We were fortunate to have early seed capital and an experienced team in place to move forward, plus we were well positioned once investors showed more interest and business came back.

Who is your target audience?

Basically we target any business with a billing system. We subsegment that into 4 target markets. Enterprise Systems, Scaling Businesses, Integrated Software Solutions that support businesses with subscriptions, and High Risk Businesses with recurring billing. We’re targeting the executive suite in those businesses with education about why so many of their businesses have low approval rates, what false declines are and how they can be avoided to help retain customers and improve top line revenue. We strive to reach the broad audience of industry executives and mid-level professionals in these subscription businesses. The goal would be to educate them about a problem they may or not fully understand or know about. They probably are aware of customer churn, our product reduces that.

What is the USP of your startup?

Revolv3 is the only solution in the market built to optimise the credit card approval process ON THE FIRST PASS. Revolv3 was architected upon issuing and acquiring bank and payment processors rules and utilises machine learning to deliver the highest approval rates in the market. Effectively solving false declines before they happen. Revolv3 also only charges for approved transactions while the competition charges platform & transactional fees plus a percentage of revenue on all attempts whether they approve or not.

Can you describe your typical workday?

I like to start my day early and am generally in the office by 7am.  And i still work from a “to-do” list and start each day reviewing open items, planning for the day or week ahead. I always dedicate the first hour reviewing financial market performance and fintech and payments news. Generally, my agenda then moves to product stand-up meetings, customer and partner calls, and administrative activities. It’s nice that face-to-face meetings are back, and I appreciate spending time at conferences and meeting with our partners and customers in person as much as possible. When I’m not travelling, I like to take a break from work so that I can have dinner with the family and usually wrap up any open emails or comms as a nightcap.

Where do you see yourself and your startup Revolv3 in five years?

I see Revolv3 as an industry leader in optimised and orchestrated payments. From a product perspective, the recurring billing platform, payments artificial intelligence, and payfac capabilities are core for us. However, our strategy is to evolve the current offerings with more frontend tools, deeper third party integrations, and embedded product offerings, providing an end to end payment suite. For the company, I anticipate organic and M&A growth with the possibility of exit in the five year time frame.

What 3 tips would you give to founders?

Start a company with a product or service that you’re passionate about. Startups are challenging, requiring patience, perseverance, and a significant personal and professional commitment.  If you don’t love it, you won’t have the fortitude to face the obstacles with grace.

Pick the best team to start and don’t settle for convenience. Find masters in your vertical who can provide expertise and experience in your market and rely on your team to help navigate and deliver on the strategy.

Be humble and gracious. It’s a long road that will require support from many others (employees, partners, investors, family) to be successful.  Those around you will appreciate you more and be willing to make sacrifices for founders that have humility and are respectful and kind.

More information you will find here

Thank you Frank Arellano for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

Believe yourself

By
Quepatagra
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0

COAT paint company: sustainably produced paint in modern muted shades- everything you need to decorate

Please introduce yourself and COAT to our readers!

I’m Rob, one of the co-founders at COAT. (The other founder is called Rob, too!). We’re a digital paint brand for this generation, and the next – focusing on simplicity, style, and changing the game in sustainable decor.

How did you get the idea of COAT?

Rob and I both did up houses in our 30’s, and it became a running joke how long we spent in DIY stores. Buying tester pots, stressing over colours, going back to buy paint, then back for more…. incredibly time consuming, and wasteful. We make that whole buying process super easy, with a modern luxury brand that’s deeply conscious too.

Why did you decide to start COAT?

I worked for BMW and a few startups in my career, so I know the power of strong brands, and how to grow companies quickly. Rob Green worked for the world’s biggest paint company, so what he doesn’t know about paint isn’t worth knowing!

Between us, we knew there was a consumer problem based on our own experiences – and we knew that the paint industry wasn’t positioned to solve it. We also saw a real brand gap in the “modern luxury” space, with deeply conscious foundations. It was the perfect marriage foundation for COAT.

What is the vision behind COAT?

We’re the go-to paint company for our generation, and the next. We want people to think of COAT first, because we stand for the easy and simplicity that makes painting fun – and the planet-first values that make it right.

How difficult was the start and which challenges you had to overcome?

We started the business and operations ourselves, just the two of us, from a roll-up unit in Surrey. That’s everything from building the brand and website, through to mixing and shipping paint directly to customers.

We even painted thousands of Peel & Stick swatches ourselves for the first 6 months or so…

All the above was difficult! Getting interest from suppliers as a pre-product business, during lockdown, was hard. Setting up a unique production system that’s small but scalable, was hard. And of course, launching the brand to the world and getting our vision in front of people, was hard.

We’re in a great place now of course, but I think all of that is down to our individual expertise and commitment to getting things moving. 

Who is your target audience?

Our generation, and the next. We’re focused on homeowners, aspiring to create beautiful spaces that are kind to humans and the planet. Something that I think resonates with everyone, but particularly millennial and Gen Z audiences – if you had to put boxes around things!

What is the USP of your startup?

Our strength isn’t one thing – it’s the sum of our parts. Yes, we’re leading the charge in environmental responsibility, with unique production zero-waste models and all the certification you can muster… And sure, we’re putting ourselves firmly in the style space for ‘modern tastemakers’ with a curated colour range and deliberate aesthetic. But honestly, we’re strong and different because we keep things simple. Paint, done better.

Can you describe your typical workday?

Erm, I’m not sure typical exists for me at this point! I’m in the office 3 or 4 days a week, which I think is important given the stage of business and how we like to communicate as a team. 

Half of the day might be meetings, centred around some core ones like team stand ups and leadership sessions. The work environment is quite fun – we might be shooting social content in the office or painting out new paint colours on the board table. We’re all based in one place so the spectrum of conversations can be anything from a customer service call through to financial forecasting.

I think that’s the best thing about my role – the dynamism and constant change. That’s why I (and Rob G) left corporate. Having said that, sometimes I think it’s the worst thing, and crave a 9-5. But that’s usually fleeting.

Where do you see yourself and your startup COAT in five years?

COAT will be huge by then. In the face of every challenge, you face as a founder, that belief is what gets me through. We’re doing something special, with a brand that resonates, in a space that’s super dusty.

Personally, who knows! I’m big into coaching and quite self-aware – but I’m very much in the moment with COAT right now, so let’s see how the waves ebb-and-flow over the coming months/years.

What 3 tips would you give to founders?

Pick a lane and stay in it. That sounds like it contradicts the principles of being a dynamic/agile/insert-buzz-word startup – but it doesn’t. You started a business for a reason, so keep going back to that reason and change the ‘how’ not the ‘what’. We do paint – really well – and that’s it.

Say no. Similar to the above point and verging on cliché – but saying no and prioritising is tough. There’s always some shiny opportunity, or the “what if” things that come along, but it’s important to keep focus on the things that drive the goal. The world isn’t short of opportunities, but the execution is the critical bit.

Believe yourself. I still struggle with imposter syndrome and wanting to over-analyse everything. I ask too many people for their opinion, which is rarely helpful. I’ve realised that I do know what I’m talking about a lot of the time – through coaching. So, trusting intuition can be the route to speed and differentiation in the business.

Picture: left to right Rob Abrahams and Rob Green

More information you will find here

Thank you Rob Abrahams for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

Important to explore Web3 and what it’s bringing to the industry

By
Quepatagra
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0

OTM a fully automated stack of buying and selling ad inventory

Please introduce yourself and the OTM platform to our readers!

I’m Vitaly Gerko, CPO and co-founder of OTM, a technological programmatic platform established in 2008. We provide a fully automated stack of buying and selling ad inventory, we work directly with publishers, aggregating the traffic and selling it to our own DSP platform, where we have a lot of direct clients and agencies and also to BigTech (Google, Yandex, VK) and third party DSP. We help businesses create 360 degrees advertising to reach their customers in the digital space. OTM was acquired in 2021 by VEON Ltd. global digital operator.

I have over 15 years of experience in AdTech and MarTech, leading development of tech products. My expertise spans across product management, unit economy, and paid marketing. I’m a limited partner at the True Global Ventures fund (Web3 technologies, crypto and blockchain projects) and a member of venture capital club Angels Deck, a mentor and an investor of startups Amma and Checkme.

Why did you decide to start a business?

I started my first business the same year as I graduated from the university in 2005, so, entrepreneurship has been my state of mind for a long time. My debut company was a web development and programming studio because I was interested in technologies and the growing power of the internet. When the first iPhone was released, I got highly enthusiastic about mobile apps and the AppStore. Eventually, in 2011 I joined the team of a mobile app that offered motivated traffic.

I saw the great potential of the internet advertisement because the spread of the World Wide Web was pretty fast and smartphones were becoming a common thing among all audiences. So, I shifted my focus as an entrepreneur to this sector. 

What is the vision behind OTM?

OTM was founded at the dawn of the internet advertisement, and since then we have been striving to create a set of tools and services that could address all the needs of a business situated in any part of the world. Now we have a complete stack of programmatic products and a strong team of in-house experts. OTM lets its clients achieve all their advertising goals without the need to go to anybody else.

The AdTech market is constantly changing, and we strive to be flexible and offer the most up-to-date solutions. We understand that any business needs assistance in reaching its audience and it’s beneficial for both consumers and companies if they can find each other easily.

From the idea to its inception, what have been the biggest challenges so far and how did you finance yourself?

Prior to launching OTM, I ran advertising campaigns for my clients via various demand-side platforms, including Google’s DV360, Facebook and MyTarget. Through that experience I explored the approach to AdTech practiced by the global market leaders. It shaped my understanding of what features our platform should have to be an efficient advertising tool. When we started OTM, we looked for investors but, in fact, we didn’t really need them because we could invest our own money into the platform. 

Who is the target group of OTM?

Our main clients are the largest brands in Russia: P&G, Unilever, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Sberbank, Aeroflot and many others. However, OTM’s clients can be situated in Asia Pacific or in the United States ― we are a global company.

How does the platform work? What are the advantages? What makes you different from other providers?

Unlike many other platforms on the market, since the very first day we’ve been building a full-stack platform that covers the full value chain by working with both publishers and advertisers. It lets us have the best control over the whole money chain between them and provide marginality on every step. Also it helps us to be flexible. 

On the one hand, we can control pricing. On the other hand, for the exact same reasons we can grant discounts to our clients and provide high revenue for publishers. It makes partnering with us beneficial for both sides. 

OTM has full-service and self-service DSP, DMP, several SSP, and ad exchanges, a lot of predictive and ML models which allows us to optimize traffic for KPIs and benchmarks of clients.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

We are on the verge of a new era in digital advertising. The attention economy created by tech giants, like Google, Meta and Tiktok, where users’ data, content and engagement are a product monetized by those companies is gradually coming to its end. Web3 will grant people the right and the opportunity to control their data and content and use it in their own interest, including monetization, without huge tech corporations getting involved. 

It, of course, will impact advertising. I think that in five years we’ll be working with Web3 platforms within this new paradigm. It’s important for me to stay on the cutting edge of technology. 

At the end: What are three trends you see in the AdTech and MarTech industries?

I agree with The Trade Desk co-founder and CEO Jeff Green when he says that the open internet is the future of AdTech and MarTech. Decentralized and transparent Web3 eliminates the issue of “walled gardens” when big tech companies create ecosystems within which they collect user data and sell it to advertisers. It’s beneficial neither for users, nor for advertisers because the former basically work for free giving away their data and content and the latter don’t know what content they support.

In Web3 people will be able to decide when they want to watch ads and learn through them about new products and services which will make advertising less intrusive. Users will decide on what data they want to share and with who. It’ll motivate brands to work with their audience more thoroughly and thoughtfully. I think that it’s crucially important to explore Web3 and what it’s bringing to the industry for everybody who works in MarTech and AdTech.

More information you will find here

Thank you Vitaly Gerko for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

Listen to your customers and identify their struggles 

By
Quepatagra
-
0

Melodea plastic free-packaging solutions that are good for the planet and very functional

Please introduce yourself and your startup Melodea to our readers! How did you get the idea of Melodea?

Melodea, Ltd. was originally founded as a spin-off project at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem by Dr. Shaul Lapidot, PhD, Melodea’s CEO, together with composites expert, the late Tord Gustafsson, and Prof. Oded Shoseyov, PhD, a renowned expert in nanomaterials and plant biotechnology who is on the Melodea advisory board.

Why did you decide to start with Melodea?

Since its inception, Melodea focused on the production of Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNC) as a bio-based raw material for various applications that would serve both the  industry and the environment. Our CNC is made from pulp – the raw material used to produce paper.

We recognized the planet’s need for more sustainable development, and in the packaging industry,–the urgent need to find solutions for the plastic waste challenge.  We already had in hand the strong bio-based material Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNC) that we produce through a patent protected process. We believe that the solution for a sustainable packaging industry grows on trees – as the industrial forest is the best source for bio-based raw materials such as CNC. Therefore, we invested in the development of a unique formula that has high performance in high humidity conditions – MelOx. In order to offer our clients the entire solution for their sustainable packaging that has high performance while being recyclable, we also developed the Melodea VBcoat that offers protection from moisture transmission.

What is the vision behind Melodea?

Our mission is to provide the market with solutions that will improve performance, and serve as a sustainable alternative to the market.

Sustainability is not only an integral part of our goals, it is in every element of what we do – from our production and development process, to the products we sell and the way we operate. 

We are committed to offer solutions that address environmental challenges – most pressing one being the plastic waste challenge, for both short and long term.

How difficult was the start and which challenges you had to overcome?

The plastic industry has been around for many years – plastic is considered a high performing non- expensive material. Melodea’s challenge was to find solutions that are economically affordable but maintain the same high-performance attributes. For that reason, we are using wood pulp as a resource since it is economically affordable and available in vast quantities being sourced from industrial forests. We have invested in extensive R&D efforts to get the best performance and enable our clients to use existing machinery that they already have for easy integration.

Who is your target audience?

Melodea’s target audience are packaging companies, converters and food/consumer goods companies that are looking for sustainable packaging solutions that require barrier performance to protect packed products from oxygen, water vapor and/or oil & grease transmission. 

What is the USP of your startup?

Melodea is on a mission to provide plastic free-packaging solutions that are good for the planet and very functional. The advantage of Melodea’s solution is that we have the only barrier products on the market with a comprehensive combination: 

highly performance for oxygen, water vapor and oil & grease 

Affordable prices compare to some structures of plastic 

Recyclable 

Can resist high humidity conditions

While other companies offer packaging solutions with a few advantages, to our best knowledge, our products provide a “complete package”. In addition, our barrier coatings can be applied using standard industrial coatings lines. 

Can you describe your typical workday ?

Whoever works in a start-up knows there is no such thing as a typical day.

Everything isdynamic, which makes it very interesting and challenging. In general dealing with fund raising, sales of existing products and developing next generation products, all with my highly skilled team.

Where do you see yourself and your startup Melodea in five years?

Our barrier coating products will be produced and distributed worldwide, reducing the global use of plastic products. In parallel, being a technological company we will continue to produce and commercialize  next-generation products that include epoxy composites, electronics, cosmetics and others. 

What 3 tips would you give to founders?

Recruit and invest in the best team possible. It all comes down to the people. 

Have passion for what you do – a start-up is something you need to be passionate about and you have to find someone who gravitates toward the idea with the same passion or even more

Listen to your customers and identify their struggles 

More information you will find here

Thank you Shaul Lapidot for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

Holidu raises €100M in oversubscribed Series E round

By
Quepatagra
-
0

Holidu , the fast-growing vacation rental company, announced today that it has closed a €100 million Series E financing round led by 83North.

The round was joined by Northzone, HV Capital, Vintage Investment Partners and Commonfund Capital. Furthermore, it has seen strong participation from existing investors Prime Ventures, EQT Ventures, coparion, Senovo, Lios Ventures and Possible Ventures. This round also includes a venture debt component of €25 million of funding from Claret Capital and Silicon Valley Bank.

Holidu, founded in 2014 by the brothers Johannes and Michael Siebers, has built a rapidly growing booking platform for vacation rentals which reached more than 110 million visitors in the last 12 months. In addition, Holidu has established a synergistic and highly successful software and service solution for hosts called Bookiply. It helps single property owners generate more bookings with less effort and creates a reliably great guest experience. This is achieved by providing hosts with a powerful software solution paired with on the ground support from local teams.

In the past three years, the number of managed Bookiply homes has grown from 5,000 to nearly 20,000. Revenues from Bookiply homes have grown 13x from the pre-pandemic year 2019 to 2022 year to date. It now accounts for more than half of the Holidu Group’s revenues. Bookiply is now active in 19 local offices across Europe and has become the market leader by the number of managed properties in several key tourist areas in Spain and Italy. With the acquisition of two major vacation rental companies in Germany this year, Bookiply is on its way to building market leadership in the DACH market too.
The investment will fuel Holidu’s and Bookiply’s roll-out of local office locations, unlock organic and inorganic growth in existing markets and drive additional product investments into Bookiply and the booking platform Holidu.

Johannes Siebers, co-founder and CEO: “We see that our company delivers true value to hosts and guests, which is reflected in our very strong host retention and guest satisfaction. We will now scale our region-by-region approach into Europe’s large and attractive hosting market. This financing round is a great vote of confidence in the current environment. We are on the path to build a big company.”

Michael Siebers, co-founder and CTO: “Holidu has always aimed to solve customers’ problems by leveraging the best technologies and data. Our goal is to build the world’s best software and service platform for hosts and make the guest experience reliable and great.”

Laurel Bowden, Partner at 83North: “The Holidu Team are excellent operators which is crucial to serve the fragmented long tail of vacation rentals with great unit economics and to bring the market to the next level. The team stands in front of a large roll-out opportunity. We are thrilled to be part of the journey and look forward to the road ahead.”

Picture: Credit Renate Forster

Source Holdiu GmbH

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