G: Tell us about your business: What do you do? What did inspire you to start?
Musaic is a new kind of HiFi system made up of wireless speakers that you place around your home which can connect to other products in novel ways.
Our background is in Consumer Electronics and Hi-Fi (I was Technical Director of Cambridge Audio for more than 10 years). We had been watching the rise of streaming audio and Sonos in particular but thinking that these kinds of systems could do more than just be a Hi-Fi, they could fully integrate into a Smart Home.
G: What is innovative / unique about what you do?
Musaic is not just a HiFi system it’s an Internet of Things connected device. Musaic can create and control lighting moods, and integrate with security or other home automation technologies for instance. You can also do novel things such as combine Musaic with WigWag and have your plants tell you they are thirsty via text-to –speech when you get home at night.
G: What were the biggest obstacles launching the start-up and how did you overcome them?
I guess it’s no surprise if I say money here! Launching a hardware start-up does incur a particularly high start-up cost because of the tooling, that’s why we’re on Kickstarter right now raising some finance for tooling and approvals.
G: What would you say has been your most memorable experience while developing your startup?
The moment we got our first full protoype units to finally work, literally on the eve of flying to the US to do a show was pretty special / a massive relief!
G: Why did you choose Shoreditch to launch your start-up? Or Why do you choose Shoreditch to run your business?
I live near Old Street and so knew the area and the culture of start-ups. We looked at the various co-working spaces and chose Techhub @ Google Campus. These places offer much more than low-cost work-space, it’s the networking opportunities that are amazing.
G: What/who should help for the development of Shoreditch entrepreneurial community? What this community is still missing?
A new hardware orientated work-space would be really good. The co-working spaces cater for internet based start-ups really well but there’s only really Hack Space in Hackney that caters for hardware. As a ‘maker’ I’m passionate about designing and building physical products so I’d love to see that encouraged and more hardware startups spring up.
G: Who/what are your favorite CEOs/Businesses in Shoreditch?
I’d have to say Elizabeth Varley and Techhub, these guys are a start-up themselves of course, it is a shining example of how to do co-working right and how to engage with government and the local council to actively promote start-ups.
G: What are your favorite places in Shoreditch? (Where do you hang-out/ dining/ going out?)
Shoreditch Grind for coffee and people watching. Hoxton Grill is a great place to do meetings. Cay Tre for Vietnamese. Red Dog Saloon and Pizza East for team building via the medium of beer .
G: What does the future has in store for your company?
For us the future is not about product silos, it’s about collaboration. We’re reaching out to other companies doing synergistic things, swapping APIs and more importantly swapping ideas on how our products can interact. If we do it right we can create an ecosystem that is much more than the sum of its parts and give people new and intriguing ways to make their home life more enjoyable.
Social links:
Twitter: @MusaicHiFi
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MusaicHiFi
Website: www.musaic.com
