HOW IT STARTED
After having settled in Hong Kong in the first year, I decided to put my eyes on startup opportunities here in Hong Kong. I imagined having a hardware startup in Hong Kong would be exciting and would be challenging the status-quo in Hong Kong as there are hardly any hardware startups existing in Hong Kong (most startups are focused around financial and online services).¶
In my research to find new opportunities I focused on Hong Kong target audience, trying to get as many different insights regarding people's lives, aspirations, frustrations, daily activities, leisure activities, etc. The most interesting insights I found I researched more to asses feasibility, market size, and scalability. I finally narrowed the shortlisted opportunities down to one segment I found particularly interesting, namely "how to stay cool when outside?". This as solutions in the market at the time were few and not very practical and there was already a great need for these type of products in Asia, which would only increase the coming years.
FROM PROBLEM TO IDEA
At the time (2017/'18) there was basically only one type of product available for cooling yourself outside, cheap handheld fans. Research online for alternatives worldwide did not show any good alternatives either. The problem with handheld fans is that, well, you have to hold it in your hand constantly while walking. Typical Hong Kong commuters however are already holding many other things in their hands, eg. smartphones, transport-card, maybe a drink. So holding a fan as well is not very practical. Having a fan that you wouldn't need to hold in your hand, a wearable fan, would therefor be a good solution.¶
After investigating different ways to cool the human body I found that the best and most convenient location to cool a body would be either side of the neck (arteries, internal cooling) and the face (direct comfort). The neck-fan was born.
Minimum Viable Product
I thought about setting up a company and getting an IP based on rough sketches but I decided to first build a prototype instead. Why? I was not yet convinced that a neck ventilator, more compact in size and weight than a regular handheld fan, would provide enough cooling and for a good amount of time.¶
My first prototypes consisted of a diadem (to hold one's hair in place, that one, it already had the correct curve to fit around the neck) and I glued two 50mm cooling fans on either side and tested it. I kept on making iterations in the four, five months after that first prototype, slowly improving and when I was convinced the MVP could potentially provide enough cooling I stopped working on the MVP and started writing a patent.
Utility Patent
I filed my utility patent in China in the summer of 2018. China seemed the most important market to patent here in Asia, especially to mitigate knock-offs in the future. I figured I would get additional patents for other major Asian markets after getting funding from investors. Writing the patent with the necessary claims and patent drawings took around three months. You can see screenshots of the patent in the pictures below. The patent contained various variations on the principle concept, eg. foldable, including HEPA filters, active filters, extra fans, etc.IELO Limited
I had some ideas for a company name already, which finally became IELO (Spanish for ice). IELO was a short name, easy to pronounce internationally and a .com domain name was available. I build a basic landing page, mostly for investors initially.¶
While building the MVP I investigated partners who could be useful for setting up the company and I had posted job-ads for potential candidates. There were few applicants in Hong Kong however and quite likely I would have had to collaborate with candidates in mainland China, a market I had not investigated yet. I had worked on a structural business deck, with empty slots for team members and numbers to study further for the TAM, SAM, etc. IELO's most valuable asset up to now however was still the patent.
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Unfortunately, a few months after filing my patent I saw a product on the market that was very similar to my neck fan. Discussing this competitor product with my patent attorney he found a new publicly released patent that was not disclosed yet earlier (during prior art and patent research). I discussed with my attorney for ways to save the patent but the majority of claims where void and that is where the I stopped this startup. I did some small studies for other products in this space, under the same IELO name, but with little result.
Learnings
Looking back at it, I think I should have been more thorough in my patent research. I still sometimes cannot believe my patent was filed at almost the same time as another company's patent. Finding a patent attorney with know-how in patents for hardware products is not easy here in Hong Kong however as most are focused on services, finance as that is the industry here.¶
I also lacked a good network of fellow hardware-minded entrepreneurs and if possible a mentor experienced in hardware startups. Again, Hong Kong is not hardware focused, moving to Shenzhen would have been a solution perhaps but not an option for me.
