The idea for Bundant came after my own struggles with keeping my home stocked with essentials once I became a parent. It’s really frustrating to discover you’ve run out of laundry pods or toothpaste, especially after you’ve just been to the shop. I realised that there had to be a better way to manage these everyday necessities, and that's why I launched Bundant.
Tell me about the business - what it is, what it aims to achieve, who you work with, how you reach customers and so on?
Bundant is a home refill service centred around a smart device – The Bundantband - that attaches to existing kitchen and pantry containers. Bundant tracks your use and automatically reorders refills for you before you run out of products. We're starting with laundry and cleaning products. Our aim is to simplify the daily lives of busy parents by taking care of the hassle of restocking household essentials. We’re in conversation with brands and manufacturers of laundry and cleaning to make sure customers have access to the widest selection of products to restock from. Social media is our biggest driver. We have a growing community which we talk to on whatsapp and they give us feedback on everything from our packaging to our TikTok content.
How has the business evolved since its launch? When was this?
We’ve only just opened Bundant for pre-orders with a Bundant starter bundle. Bundant first started as an idea for IOT kitchen containers. But once we started talking to customers, it because clear that many of them already had containers at home, so we decided to work with what they had rather than create more product waste.
Tell us about the working culture at Bundant
As a design-led founder, I have been careful to create a culture of innovation and letting people take ownership of their work. Micromanagement is bad for a startup like ours where we’re constantly learning and iterating. I encourage our team members (aka Bundmates!) to openly share their feedback as this is one way we can generate new ideas to improve Bundant’s product and service.
How are you funded?
Founders Factory, the London based accelerator, is our lead investor.
What has been your biggest challenge so far and how have you overcome this?
Our biggest challenge so far has been developing the technology for the Bundantband - our smart sleeve with a wi-fi connect scale that snaps on to existing pantry jars and tracks your usage. Initially, we faced difficulty in creating a device that was both accurate in tracking usage but durable enough to withstand daily use. We overcame this challenge by finding partners with experience in smart scale technology. We were introduced to Embedism, a small engineering firm based in Brixton (London) very early on and quickly struck a successful partnership that has allowed us to go from idea to hardware in just 5 months.
How does Bundant answer an unmet need?
Bundant addresses the unmet need for a convenient and reliable way for busy parents to avoid running out of products. Bundant saves parents significant time because we take care of the hassle of restocking essentials, so our customers can focus on what really matters.
What's in store for the future?
In the future, we plan to expand our product offerings to include other household essentials, beyond laundry and cleaning. We also plan to open up our platform to allow brands and manufacturers to directly supply our customers’ homes.
What one piece of advice would you give other founders or future founders?
My go-to-advice to other founders or future founders is to find a peer-group of fellow founders that you can trust and lean on. In the early days, there are so many decisions you’ll be making as founder and you can quickly have decision fatigue. So, it’s great to have a peer group you can call on when your mind gets cluttered.
And finally, a more personal question! What's your daily routine and the rules you're living by at the moment?
My daily routine includes waking up early – not by choice, my toddler is an early riser! Then doing the nursery run before heading to work. I fit in 30mins of exercise every other day. I’d love to do more but I’ve learned to accept that you can’t fit everything in. One of the rules I live by is to prioritise rest – whether that’s strolling through the woods near my house for 30mins to clear my head or just reading a few pages in a novel – I make sure to find time every day to indulge in an activity I find restful.
Ike Cooke is the founder of Bundant.
