Kamedi

Why did you found your start-up, what problem are you addressing and how are you solving it?

Are you annoyed by itchy mosquito bites? Are you afraid of wasp stings ? heat_it will be the answer! As an add-on for your smartphone, insect bites can be treated with concentrated heat. Thanks to its small size, it is always ready to hand. For the treatment, the heat_it is plugged into the charging port of the smartphone and the treatment can be set individually with the heat_it app. One phone charge is enough for over 500 applications. No additional batteries are required, which keeps the total cost of ownership and environmental pollution low.

How did you come up with idea to found your start-up?

I was kitesurfing and a friend showed me how to treat insect bites simply with heat. It worked incredibly well, but I wasn't convinced by the available solutions.

What were the biggest challenges you had to overcome at the beginning?

We had an offer from a pharmaceutical company that was interested in our product. We had long negotiations, which were very challenging as we had to deal with a lot of uncertainties. After all, this is the first launch for all of us and it was hard to tell how difficult it is to bring a medical device to the market. But we are glad that in the end we didn't accept the offer and are now launching the heat_it the way we think is best.

What was the most valuable piece of advice someone gave you during your start-up phase?

Get in touch with other start-ups!

What has been your biggest success so far?

That we were able to convince more than 1700 people to support our product on the German crowdfunding platform Startnext. That made us very happy. We were convinced that we were developing a great product, but to see "strangers" putting down real money and supporting our startup to get heat_it was incredible.

What would you recommend to other founders?

Build a trustworthy relationship with your co-founders. These are the people you will spend more time with than anyone else. It's very important to talk openly about everyone's motivations, strengths and weaknesses.

Where did you get to know each other as a team?

We took part in a two-year exchange program between our German university, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and Purdue University, USA. There we learned that we can work really well together and still have a lot of fun.

Do you have an office cat/dog/turtle...?

No, but we are probably the only people who celebrate insects coming into our office. We hope they bite us to test the latest version of heat_it.

Do you still have a real social life since the company was founded?

Of course, working hours are often extreme, but spending time with family and friends is super important to us. Doing sport is also a high priority, it helps us to stay productive.

Who would you like to have dinner with and why?

James Dyson. He showed so much perseverance in building his vacuum cleaner, there must have been so many setbacks and now he has built a very successful engineering company.