eSMART on the way to global expansion
26.11.2014
The two founders of eSMART went around the world with venturelab this autumn: Laurent Fabre was part of the trip with the venture leaders China while Fabrizio Lo Conte crossed the Atlantic with the Swisscom StartUp Challenge. The two former PhD students from EPFL are back to discuss their experience and their winning formula for a simple and intelligent home management system.
 Laurent Fabre and Fabrizio Lo Conte are back from their business trips in China and Silicon Valley
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Laurent, you went to China last September with the very first group of venture leaders China. What were your goals and what did you take home from it?
I wanted to better understand the Chinese market. We had another objective, quite ambitious, which was to find a real estate pilot project to invest in during the trip. We did not accomplish it, but we did forge promising links in the hotel business. In China, 2000 hotels are built every year, strong potential figures for eSMART.
Fabrizio, you are back from Silicon Valley after the Swisscom StartUp Challenge. Why did you sign-up in the first place?
We had two goals: understand the property market in the San Francisco Bay area and see if our technology has potential over there. This actually worked really well: we came back having sold our product to the owner of a villa! We still need American certification, but it was a very positive experience for us.
Tell me about the atmosphere over there, with the other finalists…
The atmosphere was very stimulating. The exchange with other startups led to conversations on themes that, quite often, cannot be broached with clients or investors. Seeing other startups pitch is also a good way for me to put myself in the shoes of the audience and make my own pitch better. Finally, evenings free from networking allowed us to appreciate a good beer and discover San Francisco by night.
You fitted an Eco-district of 450 homes in western Switzerland and have shown that your technology works again and again, even abroad. Is this the right time to expand internationally for eSMART?
These trips allowed us to understand the expectations of the Chinese and American markets. However, we still need to debrief the whole experience and set up a strategy. For the hotel sector in China for example, we are in contact with the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne to draw up a market study. Our expansion should happen in 2015, when we will run our first round of funding.
eSMART was born in 2012: you seem to have stepped out of academia and into entrepreneurship. What have been the benefits of our programs in this regard?
In reality, we wouldn’t be here without venture kick and the kickers camps. You need a certain amount of passion (and craziness too) to launch yourself. Beat Schillig and Jordi Montserrat have fortunately always given us honest feedback so that we could grow and meet people. Without them, we would still be in the academic world (laughs).
I wanted to better understand the Chinese market. We had another objective, quite ambitious, which was to find a real estate pilot project to invest in during the trip. We did not accomplish it, but we did forge promising links in the hotel business. In China, 2000 hotels are built every year, strong potential figures for eSMART.
Fabrizio, you are back from Silicon Valley after the Swisscom StartUp Challenge. Why did you sign-up in the first place?
We had two goals: understand the property market in the San Francisco Bay area and see if our technology has potential over there. This actually worked really well: we came back having sold our product to the owner of a villa! We still need American certification, but it was a very positive experience for us.
Tell me about the atmosphere over there, with the other finalists…
The atmosphere was very stimulating. The exchange with other startups led to conversations on themes that, quite often, cannot be broached with clients or investors. Seeing other startups pitch is also a good way for me to put myself in the shoes of the audience and make my own pitch better. Finally, evenings free from networking allowed us to appreciate a good beer and discover San Francisco by night.
You fitted an Eco-district of 450 homes in western Switzerland and have shown that your technology works again and again, even abroad. Is this the right time to expand internationally for eSMART?
These trips allowed us to understand the expectations of the Chinese and American markets. However, we still need to debrief the whole experience and set up a strategy. For the hotel sector in China for example, we are in contact with the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne to draw up a market study. Our expansion should happen in 2015, when we will run our first round of funding.
eSMART was born in 2012: you seem to have stepped out of academia and into entrepreneurship. What have been the benefits of our programs in this regard?
In reality, we wouldn’t be here without venture kick and the kickers camps. You need a certain amount of passion (and craziness too) to launch yourself. Beat Schillig and Jordi Montserrat have fortunately always given us honest feedback so that we could grow and meet people. Without them, we would still be in the academic world (laughs).