At the beginning of the month, we were finally able to share the news of our very own episode on The Pitch Show, hosted by Josh Muccio!
Out of 500+ applicants we were selected as one of only 24 startups featured on The Pitch Show in 2023. And after winning over a couple of its investors, we would say it was a success!
One of those investors was Elizabeth Yin with Hustle Fund. As she stated, we are "out of their thesis, but theses often make exceptions". We are proud to be the exception, and to have investors (including another featured on The Pitch - Paige Finn Doherty with Behind Genius Ventures) that recognize our "hustle". We won't let you down!
Refocusing our mission to build technology that is usable by everybody, by optimizing for disability first - this really seemed to resonate with the investors on the show.
This was solidified when Josh shared with Dhaval in a follow up conversation that our deal went through faster than any other deal of the season, despite hardware being admittedly HARD to fundraise for.
On the heels of The Pitch Show, Dhaval continued taking questions - this time from Redditors through an AMA (Ask Me Anything).
Among the many insightful questions asked one really stood out because it brings us right back to the problem we are building for. That we, as a team, have fallen in love with:
QUESTION: What is the customer problem your product solves?
DHAVAL'S ANSWER: The problem today is 91% of US homes were built before smart homes existed, with no easy way to upgrade.
As one example: even getting an Alexa means
rewiring every wall switch to connect to the internet, to be able to talk to Alexa
then repeating speakers in every room to control those switches
then pairing every switch, one by one, through another App.
And just the first step can be 11 hours of rewiring (or $2000 if you get a contractor).
And that’s if you OWN the home. If you rent a home, there’s no solution.
And as much as this affects everyone, it disproportionately affects the 27 Million people with limited mobility - soldiers, older adults, disabled persons - who can spend up to 4 hours at home, on self-care, DAILY.
That’s the problem.
There’s a well known aphorism: “when someone goes to buy a drill, they’re really buying a hole.” To that end, the end product here isn’t the ring.
The end product here is Dignity, from the Autonomy that the ring gives you.
That’s the solution. And that’s why it’s important.
“Dignity cannot wait for better times.”
