Welcome back to LaunchVT’s monthly content series where we shine the spotlight on past participants, coaches, and community partners from the LaunchVT family. This month, we heard from Carina Hamel, the co-founder of Bivo. As avid outdoor adventurers, Carina and her husband and Bivo co-founder, Robby Ringer, designed “a stainless steel performance water bottle with a flow rate that could keep up with [their] hydration needs.” We asked Carina to answer some questions about her experience participating in last year’s accelerator and what Bivo’s been up to since then. LaunchVT Coach, Neil Bainton, also shared his thoughts on working with Carina and Robby, and the accelerator as a whole.
How did you come up with the idea for your business?
After our first child was born, we were cautious of feeding her out of plastic bottles. We were talking about alternatives while out on a cross country ski one day, and realized every time we exercised, we were drinking out of plastic ourselves. We went home, did a lot of research, and realized we found a hole in the market. We started designing the Bivo One within a couple weeks and launched 18 months later.
What year did you participate in LaunchVT and how has your business changed since then?
We were part of the 2022 LaunchVT Cohort. Since the program, we have launched two insulated versions of our bottle and hired one more employee. We also closed out our friends and family round. We are seeing strong growth and continue to make a dent in the cycling space!
What’s the most important thing you learned from LaunchVT?
Don't be afraid to be different and stick to our guts. We work really closely with our coach/mentor from LaunchVT, Neil Banton, who still pushes us in all the best ways to be different. Specifically in marketing communication, we have been working hard at being a stronger part of the community and focusing on the stories around cycling and adventures.
What advice would you give to anyone who wants to launch or has recently launched their own start up?
Be patient, keep putting one foot in front of the other, and find people in your network who are also running their own business. Sometimes it's easy to think we are facing problems and other businesses aren't. Running a business is really hard and it turns out, other people think so too! It's so valuable to talk to other startups about what is working and what's not. We learn something new every time we have a conversation with another new brand.
Please give an update of where your business is now and what’s next.
We are in full cycling event mode now so will be part of a lot of expos and races in New England and beyond for the rest of the cycling season. Robby and I are getting in the car with our kids for the month of August to tour around the midwest and the Rockies for a variety of events, visiting retail shops and generally spreading the word about Bivo. When we get in front of cyclists, they want to use our bottles. We are focusing on finding new customers and spreading awareness about the brand. We love the cycling community so it will be a fun adventure!
“It's so valuable to talk to other startups about what is working and what's not. We learn something new every time we have a conversation with another new brand.”
AND WHAT DID COACH Neil Bainton HAVE TO SAY ABOUT Bivo’S TIME IN THE LAUNCHVT ACCELERATOR?
Working with Carina and Robbie at Bivo has been a pleasure. They already had a great idea and product in the market. From their previous startup experience in footwear, they’d gained a lot of experience on what does and doesn’t work.
I think the main piece I provided to the puzzle was focus. When we first started talking they were bouncing around a bit on where to focus their energies. The Bivo bottle is great and can be used in almost any hydration situation. That said, the real sweet spot is for avid cyclists and especially mountain bikers. My advice was to have a laser focus on this audience until Bivo is able to establish high levels of penetration.
When I advise a company I generally look at it as a long-term commitment. I’m still regularly in contact with Carina and Robbie and am rooting for their continued success.