StartUs Presents: viRaTechnologies

Describe viRaTechnologies in 50 words or less.

At the moment smart home ends at the outer wall of your house. viRaTechnologies provides irrigation solutions to include the garden into your smart home. For this automation process no special knowledge is required from the user.

Why did you decide to pursue your own dreams rather than someone else’s?

Once in spring I had the opportunity to spend three weeks on a sailing boat on the Atlantic Ocean, and from then on it was clear that something will change. At this time, my dream was still very nebulous. After decades I – luckily – got the possibility for a transmission from the financial services industry – I wanted to break out of this rat race. After a first talk with Alexander Lampret, the vague dream became an idea. And this idea was then elaborated into a concrete plan. Now we describe ourselves as co-founders and work hard on the realization and even to make room for other dreams.

7 years from now: How did your startup change the world?

Each garden which is irrigated by viRaCube saves batteries. Saving the environment by reducing special waste is a very good feeling. Additionally, we can offer an effect of optimized water consumption. It’s a beautiful feeling to save our nature.

In what ways do you measure your success and how do you make sure you don’t lose track?

Each sold product can be measured. To us however, the attention we get is far more important – but is it measurable? Well, likes, friends and re-tweets etc. are measureable. But for me recommendation is more important. If customers recommend our products to their friends and family we are moving in the right direction.

Describe your typical working day from coming to the office to leaving it.

At the moment we are not working in an office but at home. We coordinate through Skype and various platforms with regular personal meetings. In the coming months we are joining an incubator program with an included co-working space. But I guess nothing will change regarding our working time 🙂

In the mornings I check my mails and online messages with a coffee (very important!). After that my weeks are marked with preparations of applications at different incubator programs, funding applications, workshops and many more; alternated with research about business creation and -leading. In the afternoon and evening our team meetings take place. Afterwards the realization or implementation of all discussed parts may take us until midnight.

With ferocious competition and booming trend to build new companies: How do you make sure you don’t get lost in the shuffle?

A very important part of our success is to be the first ones to make the garden smarter. It’s not about competing with existing products, it’s about creating a new market. Be a player in a blue ocean!

What do you look for in team members?

Think like an entrepreneur, act like a co-founder – this is the ideal skill-set of a future member of viRaTechnologies. We know that we are not an employer in the traditional sense in the current PreSeed phase. But we are looking for people who help us become successful, people who want to develop our idea with us and turn it into a larger business.

Why would a talent join your team?

I’m sure that a successful company lives through their employees. They are a very important part after the idea to found a company. Employees should be taken seriously and should be developed. This is our plan for the next few years.

What was your most memorable moment so far?

Our attendance at StartupLive Vienna with all it’s great experiences regarding forming our business model was the first highlight. This experience was topped with the award of “winner overall early stage”!
The most emotional moment was the time to hold the first prototype in my hands for the first time. That moment when your idea or your dream comes true is incredible.

What advice would you give fellow founders for their startup?

Networking, retrieve information outside of official channels, get to know as much new people as possible and plan, plan, plan. And don’t let agencies bring you down!

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