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Company: Origins, Beijing
Founders: Liam Bates & Jessica Lam & Ken Ying
Hi! Can you tell us about yourselves and how you ended up in Beijing?
Liam: I have the typical “foreigner comes to China” story. I originally came to study wushu at the age of 16, and loved it so much I’ve been back every year since. China’s always held a huge fascination for me: the opportunity, the adventure and especially the crazy things that only happen in China.
Jess: I was born in Vancouver and spent my whole life there. It’s the small town kind of life! Especially when you compare it to China! It’s so calm and chill in Vancouver, and it’s one of those places where you can predict your life ten or twenty years down the road. I think deep down though, I was always looking for an adventure. Long story short, that’s how I ended up in Beijing. And then of course, there was the fact that Liam was living in Beijing.
What inspired you to found Origins?
Like a lot of start-ups, Origins came from us trying to find the solution to a problem, and then the discovery that other people also wanted a solution.
Jess: I had asthma when I was a kid and all the symptoms went away after about age 9, but then started coming back when I visited Liam in Beijing. The first time I experienced the wheezing again after so many years, I was confused, I didn’t realize what it was! That’s when we started researching air pollution and ways to improve indoor air quality.
Most air purifiers on the market are very pricey, but your products are effective and affordable. How did you manage that?
Liam: Good partners, a great team, and actually caring about our products. There are a lot of products on the market, but surprisingly few do a very good job – most air purifiers are put together in labs by a bunch of middle-aged male engineers smoking a pack a day. No surprise, they don’t really care much about air quality. Rather than outsourcing our product design & manufacture to some company, we did huge amounts of testing in Beijing apartments to create something that would work well for ourselves, as we represent the typical consumer concerned about the air. Working with good partners across the globe ensures we get top-notch products at affordable prices.
Can you explain the concept behind the Laser Egg?
Jess: The Laser Egg helps you see the invisible! It’s a super accurate air quality monitor that is also very affordable, so you know what is going on with the air indoors. We spend over 90% of our time indoors, so this is pretty important! Until now, air pollution has been something you had to guess at and try to figure out with your five senses. We already know what the AQI is like outside using the government sensors and an app, but often this has little correlation with what goes on indoors. We want to make indoor air quality visible!
If money were no object, what would your vision for Origins be?
Liam: It would be great to get everyone using the Laser Egg and discovering what the air is like in their own home. Getting some great users is the first step to getting feedback and ideas to be able to continuously innovate products that let people do what they want and have the flexibility make their lives better.
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