A Chat with Aino Aarnio-Juurinen of Avanto.tech
We are the only ones supplying the wireless power battery to heating elements.” shares Aino Aarnio-Juurinen of Avanto.tech, a Finnish startup that provides well-designed heating technology for the clothing industry.
Startup League caught up with Aino for a quick interview about Avanto.
TELL US ABOUT AVANTO – THE PRODUCT AND HOW YOU GOT THE IDEA TO CREATE IT.
Avanto Technologies Oy specializes in the seamless integration between electronics and clothing. We develop a wireless infrared heating technology for sports, leisure, work and military applications. Our aim is to enable our clients to create products that offer superior usability and design when compared to existing clothing heating solutions. We achieve this with our novel take on infrared heating that eliminates the need for external heating elements and wiring. Avanto was started in 2016 based on the joint masters’ thesis of the founders at the Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland when we realized that there were no well-designed solutions currently available in the market.
What is a typical day like at Avanto?
Currently, we are working on developing a functional prototype of our next product version as well as finalizing our new patent. So, our typical days consist of a mix of the day to day management work, sourcing new materials and communicating with suppliers and contractors as well as testing our prototypes in our electronics laboratory. When we want a break, we take our office dog, a French bulldog puppy named Ziggy, out for a walk.
How do you market your product?
Since we are a B2B technology developer, our marketing is very targeted. In fact, we often contact potential partners directly for a meeting to introduce our new technology. We also take part in multiple trade shows and competitions for wearable tech, sports apparel, and technology. Our next one will be Webit Festival Europe at Sofia, Bulgaria in April 2017. We are quite excited to be there!
What makes you unique compared to other players in this field?
The traditional heating solutions for clothing are based on resistance heating. Our infrared heating technology in comparison offers many benefits such as better efficiency and the elimination of heating wires. There are only a handful of companies emerging in the market and we believe our technology is a step ahead of the others in terms of usability and design. We are also the only ones supplying wireless power from the battery to heating elements.
IS THIS YOUR FIRST BUSINESS? IF NOT, TELL US ABOUT YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY THUS FAR.
Our CEO, Visa, is a third-generation entrepreneur with a lifelong experience of running a family business in the heavy industry. However, this is our first startup.
WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU HAVE EVER RECEIVED?
Choose the mountain you want to climb wisely and climb one mountain at a time.
www.avanto.tech is part of Startup League, a growing global community of startups looking to leverage worldwide events and tech fests to get exposure to investors, partnerships, influencers and media.
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