Babson Graduate Business: Teplo
Babson graduate students Kazunori Kawanobe MBA’16, Abhinav Sureka MBA’16, and Mayuresh Soni MBA’16 cordially invite you to tea time withTeplo.
Teplo
Teplo is a smart bottle designed for tea drinkers who are looking for the ultimate, and unique, tea-drinking experience.
The product is a glass bottle with a thermo-sensor, heater, Bluetooth communication module, and two batteries. An internal battery is used to communicate with smart devices, and has an all-day battery life. An external battery is used to maintain the drinking temperature for up to four hours.
Although it may sound complicated, Teplo actually simplifies the tea-brewing process by notifying users of the best brewing temperature and time through its mobile app. Users can also utilize the app to personalize and maintain their desired drinking temperature. Additionally, the app allows users to make and order their personalized tea blends.
Check out Teplo’s Kickstarter campaign
Change is a Brewin’
Tea is the most popular drink in the world, but it wasn’t until recently that the beverage, and its culture, spread widely through the U.S.
As its popularity continues to grow, it has become clear that many don’t actually know how to go about brewing the perfect cup of tea, and may not realize that tea is extremely sensitive. Many tea drinkers rely on the memorization of preferred brewing temperatures and times for different types of tea, which requires a thermometer and a timer. As it stands today, the current tea industry ignores the uniqueness of the human sense – meaning everyone gets the same tea with the same ingredients and the same drinking temperature. But the reality is that everyone has their own distinct preference towards taste, flavor, color, and even temperature.
Being avid tea-drinkers themselves, and having all of this in mind, the Teplo team divulged inEntrepreneurial Thought and Action® to come up with a universal solution to a problem that is unique from one consumer to the next.
The solution is a personalized tea-drinking experience, made possible by forward-thinking yet classic product-design, and the ever-important utilization of technology.
‘Teplo’ actually means ‘warm’ in Russian and Czech – representing the company’s core mission: to warm consumer’s drinks and their lives.
Unique Product Features
- Teplo’s battery-powered, rechargeable base allows tea to maintain its perfect brewing temperature.
- It’s beautifully crafted glass design allows users to see and admire the color of their tea.
- The Bluetooth-enabled mobile app allows users to pick and maintain their desired temperature.
- Tea enthusiasts can find and order personalized premium teas from all over the world via Teplo’s mobile app.
- Teplo respects the uniqueness of each individual when it comes to tea, by valuing the ways in which they experience taste, smell, sight, and temperature. In doing so, the company believes it can provide a much better tea making and drinking experience to everyone.
“We value simplicity in our hardware design. Although we use sophisticated technologies, we don’t want Teplo to have a ‘geeky’ look. We eliminated all LED and display, and employed a simple glass bottle design with bamboo. By doing so, users can really enjoy their tea’s taste, flavor, and color,” added the Teplo team.
Goals
First and foremost – Teplo is on a mission to raise at least $60,000 through its newKickstarter campaign. This will aid in the first mass production of Teplo products, with a goal to begin shipments in July, 2016.
Personalized tea blending and subscription services will also begin this summer.
Babson’s Special-tea
“As members of the Babson community, we’ve been able to take advantage of theHatcheryco-working office space in theBlank Center, which helps us to do almost all of our daily tasks such as meeting and R&D. In addition, our classmates, Babson alumni, faculty, and staff continue to share with us their great entrepreneurial experiences, feedback, and advice – an immeasurable benefit of the Babson experience,” shared the Teplo team.
Tea Time with the CEO
“I like to blend my own tea, not only because of the benefits that come from making it myself, but also because I truly enjoy the entire cultural experience. The tea I drink when I want to focus on studying is different from the tea I drink when I want to relax. It isn’t any easy task though – custom tea blending requires knowledge and time. This is why we want to provide like-minded tea drinkers, and those looking to explore the hobby, with their own personalized, holistic tea experience.”Kazunori Kawanobe MBA’16, CEO, Teplo
From left to right: Mayuresh Soni, Co-Founder & CTO; Kazunori Kawanobe, Co-Founder & CEO; Abhinav Sureka, Co-Founder & COO