Building an Internet of Things Platform Company from Zaragoza, Spain: Alicia Asin, CEO of Libelium (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Let’s go back to that November 2006 time frame. You decided you were going to do an IoT platform. How did you get the company off the ground? Was it self-financed, bootstrapped, or did you raise money? How did you get going? What was the process of getting this started?

Alicia Asin: We had two very clear ideas. The first one was that we didn’t want to risk the money of our families or friends. We wanted to be in this alone. The second thing was that we didn’t want to be the typical R&D company that allows itself not to produce any revenues because it’s an R&D company. We focused on creating revenues and getting all the resources that we could. First of all, we applied for as many entrepreneur awards and grants that we could. By the second year, we had already raised $100,000 from different institutions just by winning awards. If you go to our website, you will see that we have 27 awards. My co-founder was the winner of the Innovator of the Year by MIT two years ago. That was one part.

Sramana Mitra: How much money were you able to gather by winning these awards?

Alicia Asin: $100,000.

Sramana Mitra: What time frame was that over?

Alicia Asin: Two years or 18 months, to be more accurate.

Sramana Mitra: In that time, were you also able to get some contracts that were revenue generating?

Alicia Asin: Yes. When you’re a hardware company, you need maybe 20 iterations on the same product to ensure that it can go to the market. We established a parallel business for makers and universities where we were selling early versions of our products. This was a way to not only get us cash, which is important, but also feedback. We were able to see if the products were meeting the market expectations. I think that was a great exercise for the company.

Sramana Mitra: Tell me more about how this evolved? We’re now in the 2007 time frame?

Alicia Asin: Yes.

Sramana Mitra: How much revenue did you bring in 2007 in this mode? How many people were you? How was the business developing?

Alicia Asin: The first year in 2007, we made less than $60,000 and we were six people. For the six people not to lose money, David and I weren’t taking any salary. We have access to one intern. Year after year, we launched our official product line in 2009. From 2007 to 2009, we were living with awards and revenue from maker shops that we call Cooking Hacks. Also, we received a 0% loan from the Spanish government. That was a great thing because the loan from the Spanish government is a great tool for entrepreneurs without straggling you. It’s not only a 0% interest but also, you don’t need to pay back if you are not cash flow positive. It’s very flexible.

This segment is part 3 in the series : Building an Internet of Things Platform Company from Zaragoza, Spain: Alicia Asin, CEO of Libelium
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