Three years ago, the company showed up on the crowd funding site. Customers were interested in the company's air cleaner with a choice of different filters and an impressive array of sensors built into the device. The company closed a $10 million Series A to make it easier for more people to use it.
The company's seed round was led by one person. It was the first investment of its kind by the Swedish company. In the current round, the appliance giant was involved. The Series A was led by a returning partner and an undisclosed global consumer goods brand. The company says it will use the money to hire, scale operations, expand its product portfolio and work towards its ultimate goal of meeting the global need for better indoor air quality. The company is working on a smart humidifier.
The company raised $10 million in an all-equity deal at a post-money valuation of over $50 million. The new valuation shows a 3x increase over the previous one.
The quality of the air we breathe is more important to families than ever before. Families often turn to the products for little to no insight into whether or not they are actually working. According to Grant Prigge, CEO and co-founder at Mila, families can finally monitor and control their indoor air quality with the help of the company. This investment is made.
will allow us to meet growing demand while continuing to build thoughtful, beautiful experiences that improve the health of our homes.”
There is a shortage of air purifiers to choose from, but the company's clever design and ability to use a number of different filters distinguishes it from its competitors. The app reports particulates, humidity, temperature, volatile compounds, CO 2 and CO. The data is used by the purifier to scrub the air more efficiently, either running the fans slowly if they are not really needed, or running at full blast if the air is really bad.
There are seven filters to choose from which have slightly different characteristics depending on what customers want. The image is titled "Mila."
Grant Prigge is the company's CEO and co- founder. The interview is edited to make it clear and long.
What has it been like working with the lead investors so far?
Grant Prigge said that Mila went from a small passion project with a couple hundred thousand dollars of angel funding from friends to having one of the largest consumer appliance manufacturers as its first institutional investor. The company has been around for 100 years.
After launching the largest air purifier launch in history, Paul Allen's Vulcan Capital led the second round of funding. One of the largest consumer goods manufacturers in the world was part of our Series A.
Some people warned us against working with big corporate investors, but they have been some of the best partners we could ask for. When it comes to navigating the supply chain challenges of the past few years, we have been able to punch well above our weight thanks to the help of Electrolux. The synergy in marketing and branding is the same with our newest investor.
The goal with the fundraise is not known. What does it take to get the money unlocked?
We will be able to expand our team and meet the growing demand for our air purifiers thanks to this fundraise. Adding to our product portfolio will allow us to improve the health of our homes and indoor environments. In the new year, we will be releasing the first Humidifier of its kind that makes it safe to use tap water, thanks to the proprietary water purification system. The innovation award was given to halo in the year 2022,
An air quality control system that is becoming more intelligent is the result of the convergence of a growing portfolio of hardware solutions. The Home Health Operating System of the future will be called Mila.
There is a long-term vision.
We want to bring every family back from airblivion so we can shape the future. The quality of the air we breathe is one of the biggest threats to human health. 7 million people die from dirty air every year, more than AIDS, diabetes and traffic accidents.
Two years have shown how little we know about the air we breathe. Consumers don't have the tools to make a difference in their home environment, which is critical to their health. The majority of consumers don't know what to do about air quality.
That is going to be solved by Mila. There's a $16 billion market for indoor air quality. We want to make every home a better place to breathe.
Why are you giving away purifiers for free?
We were blown away by the letters we got from our customers about who they were buying for. Spouses were buying it for their spouse who suffers from allergies, girlfriends were buying it for their girlfriends who suffer from allergies, and fathers were buying it for their children who suffer from asthma. We vowed to take that responsibility seriously in everything we do after reading the thoughtful notes and stories and seeing that people were buying our products for the health of their loved ones. A core pillar of our brand is compassion and care.
The Mila Cares program is one way we can do this. Any customer can submit a nomination for someone in need of clean air and any member of the team can give out a package. It needs to touch them in some way. Sometimes it's a laugh or a cry. The nominee will usually get a surprise package with a personal letter from us.
More than 100 Mila Cares Packages have been given out to deserving air breathers in the communities we are fortunate to be a part of.
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