It’s been an eventful summer for Minut. On July 29th we officially announced the results of our latest round of funding (Series A). Backed by KPN Ventures, SOSV, and Nordic Makers we were able to bring our total funding up to $10 million.
We’ve come a long way from a humble Kickstarter campaign aimed at Airbnb hosts, that was expected to raise enough for a few hundred devices at most. The campaign quickly assumed a life of its own, and our founders realised we had struck a chord with an audience much broader than just short-stay hosts.
The Minut device was conceptually born in San Francisco, brought to life in Shenzhen, nurtured in Sweden, and is now being grown in London. Our company has come a long way, but our philosophy and driving ethos has always remained the same: We do what we do because safety shouldn’t be a luxury reserved for the few. Whatever ‘home’ is to our customers, it should always be sweet. And no matter where we go in the future, we intend to always keep it this way.
We settled into our first ‘office’ in London just last summer. The term office is applied loosely to this first space, as the original four members of the London team were essentially hot-desking in the office of a gracious business partner. There was no rent, but also no room to grow, and a distinct lack of privacy.
As we started to grow, it was decided that we needed a space of our own. We viewed everything from co-working spaces to private offices, before finally settling upon a studio space in South London’s eclectic Vauxhall community.
Our first private space was less than roomy, but the excitement of our own office outweighed any lingering feelings of claustrophobia. The coffee machine lived on our Head of Marketing’s desk, and unbeknown to the party on the other line, every call had a captive audience of four.
A mere month and a half later, and we had already outgrown our first space. Our next studio in the building took us to a much larger one on the uppermost floor of the same building. The office still wasn’t massive, but we were able to find a more permanent home for the Nespresso, and begin our collection of Swedish flat-pack furniture.
Fast forward to the present day and our team is now ten strong and settling into a space complete with mezzanine, meeting area, terrace, impressive Mario Kart setup, enough Huel to last us through 2025, and most importantly a fridge big enough to accommodate the entire team’s Friday drinks supply.
Along the way, we’ve tested the boundaries of the human body’s tolerance for Diet Coke consumption, learned first-hand the importance of an Amazon prime business account (for all your last-minute Nespresso pod needs), experienced the unique bond that comes from group assemblage of Ikea furniture, and all the joys of a Friday Fika.
We may have only moved down the hall, but in the short span of a year, we progressed from squatting (with permission), into a beautiful space with a view, and most importantly ample room for our quickly expanding team. The original four are still with us, and along with the new additions we are all looking with excitement towards what the future holds for Minut in London.
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