The
idea
The
vision of Room in a Box is to design ultramobile, sustainable and affordable
furniture for young people. The founders have discovered their perfect material
in corrugated cardboard – 85% of which is recycled paper and 100% of which can
be re-recycled. So far they have designed tables, chairs, a bed and several
custom-made products like white boards and stalls for trade fairs.
The
entrepreneurs
Lionel
and Gerald developed the idea of Room in a Box in 2012 after Gerald had a revelation
when sitting on a cardboard chair. Gerald used to work in start-up counseling
and both have had close contact with entrepreneurs in their academic and
professional career which is why they are not suffering from the typical
“German fear of failure”.
Financing,
Counseling & Support
Room
in a Box received a start-up scholarship from the Beuth University of Applied
Sciences in Berlin. The team is now working within the university’s
accelerator/incubator programme where they are given affordable office and
workshop space. They have tried consulting for young start-ups but prefer
receiving concrete support from lawyers/notaries or subsidies for the
acquisition of machinery which is provided by the state of Berlin. According to
Rafael, the numerous incubator programmes, scholarships and the extended
network make Berlin a perfect spot for young eco-startups.
The
challenges
Working
with a relatively unexplored material like corrugated cardboard puts the team before
the task to continuously adapt and improve the design of their products. The
first taxation after 2 years is coming up soon for Room in a Box. This is an institutional barrier many young
businesses struggle with as the tax amounts can turn out rather harsh.
The
potential
The
tables, chairs, beds and shelves of Room in a Box fit into a niche of
eco-products with a growing demand in Germany. The furniture is entirely produced
in Germany and exhausts 75% less CO2 than conventional furniture. However,
the self-proclaimed potential of Room in a Box lies in the fact that they are
right in the sweet spot of this diagram:
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