This week’s 1 Million Cups at the Kauffman Foundation featured pitches by a provider of real-time applications for Web-connected devices and a subscriber-based replacement service for home and business HVAC filters.
The guest panel of startup inquisitors included Kevin McGinnis, a vice president at Sprint, and Mike Farmer, CEO and founder of Leap.it.
Big Bang at 1 Million Cups
Jonathan Wagner, CEO and founder of Big Bang, began the first presentation by sharing a very big number: 6,809,972,000.
“I’d like to tell you this is my revenue, but it’s not,” Wagner said with a smile, before explaining that the figure was actually the world’s population in 2009—the year that Internet-connected devices exceeded the number of people on the planet.
Today, he said, there are 8.5 billion Web-connected devices, and in five years, there will be 200 billion. The Internet of things will go far beyond smartphones, laptop computers and tablets to encompass myriad Web-connected devices that will assist in the moment-by-moment operation of cars, houses, schools and even cities.
The goal of Big Bang, Wagner explained, is to provide secure software that will supply “simple and reliable and cost-effective ways to connect the world’s devices in real time,” whether they be drones or smart toasters.
Big Bang doesn’t gather data, Wagner said, but makes it possible to receive data so that devices can connect and “talk with each other.” The company allows developers to build and scale simultaneous applications for a high number of users on a broad set of devices without the need to maintain servers or infrastructure.
“This wasn’t possible five years ago,” Wagner said.
Air Filter On Demand at 1 Million Cups
Next up was Mat Orangkhadivi, CEO and co-founder of Air Filter On Demand, whose company slogan is “Never forget your filter again.”
Air Filter On Demand is a subscriber-based service for homeowners and business owners who have trouble remembering to change the filters in their HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems.
If the HVAC filter isn’t changed every one to three months, Orangkhadivi said, “then mold can take over your entire system and ductwork,” which can lead to serious health problems and expensive property damage. Regularly changing the filter will also save energy costs, he said.
Air Filter On Demand removes the “hassle of driving to the store or being too busy to remember to change the filter” by mailing its more affordable and effective replacement filters on a fixed schedule to subscribing customers, Orangkhadivi said.
“We’re making a profit right now, and we’re going to be huge in the future,” he said.
