Sparkling water on the go, in an environmentally friendly way: that is the unique selling point of Bottle+, whose founders we also asked about their plans for the future and what advice they would give to people starting a business.
Could you explain what your startup does in a few sentences?
On a daily basis, more than 1.3 billion plastic bottles are sold globally, which is a major driver of
the plastic pollution we face. Our innovative reusable water bottle, which was designed in
Switzerland, enables customers to create their own sparkling water anytime, anywhere, and
without single-use plastics.
This is possible since our water bottle has a detachable adapter with an integrated and refillable
gas tank as its core feature. One full gas tank can create 15 bottles of sparkling water and
therefore allows you to substitute PET bottles when you are on-the-go. Once the gas tank is
empty, you simply refill it at your refilling station back home.
What is something you wish you knew when you started putting together your business?
Retrospectively, I believe we weren’t fully aware of the importance of execution and mostly, its
speed. Validation of your technology or paying customers is key and you better do it sooner than
later.
What plans do you have for your startup in the next several months?
Currently, we are preparing a crowdfunding-campaign which will be launched in the summer of
this year. The purpose of this campaign is twofold: on the one hand, it is a financing vehicle for
our first production batch, and on the other hand it is a tool to validate paying customers.
Depending on the outcome of our crowdfunding-campaign, we will try to close our first financing
round in order to start our mass production and execute our go-to-market strategy.
What is your unique selling point to potential customers out there?
Our customers desire to drink sparkling water on-the-go in an environmentally conscious way.
Regarding our competitors that offer sparkling water (classic soda makers for your kitchen at
home, PET sparkling water brands, or other existing, portable carbonization devices), we are
- more sustainable,
- more user-friendly
- and less expensive in the mid-term.
Thanks to the modular design of our bottle, we also offer a solution for people who prefer still
water.
What advice would you share with someone thinking about starting a business?
It sounds cliché and we've heard it many times ourselves, but it's actually true: just start with
something and create tangible output on which you can get feedback. Alternatively, you can call
potential clients or experts, but just get away from paper tigers quickly (setting a goal or
milestones helped us get into that mindset).
Two other important tips are to simply ask for help and, even if you get negative feedback, don't
hang your head, but rather try to incorporate it and keep working on your case.
