Kaiterra CEO, Liam Bates
Beijing-based air monitor manufacturer Kaiterra, previously known as Origins, unveiled its latest air monitor product, Sensedge on April 11. According to Kaiterra founder and CEO Liam Bates, Sensedge focuses on commercial and industrial applications.
“The best feature of Sensedge is its removable modules,” said the Swiss entrepreneur. “While testing a variety of pollutant indexes, Sensedge avoids the time-consuming annual calibration, which could cost weeks of data records.”
Thanks to a cloud-computing software maintenance, Bates claims, Sensedge takes mere seconds to remove and update its modules, meaning users need not send their products back to factories every year.
Founded in January 2014, Kaiterra initially utilized Wechat as its main commerce channel. However, it is currently expanding its global distribution through online shopping websites and retail stores. Bates said the company recently opened an India-focused office in New Delhi. In March 2016, Kaiterra’s Laser Egg air quality monitors entered Apple stores across China.
Initially, the company focused on developing affordable domestic air quality monitors. About two years ago, the company started conducting product research exploring possibilities for commercial use and public installation. Ultimately, Kaiterra designed Sensedge as a customized monitor platform for green architecture and low-power buildings. Different from Laser Egg, Sensedge shares real-time AQI through building a central management system and data-analysis platform, rather than using individual devices to connect with AQI apps.
“Through pollutant index detection and data gathering, we are more focused on the fundamental issues of air quality improvement. There is still plenty room left in terms of measuring,” said Bates.
As for the future, according to Bates it is still too early to tell how changing policies and environmental factors will affect sales and development of Kaiterra products. According to Beijing AQI historical data, the city’s air-quality performance last month was categorized under “mild pollution”, with multiple air quality warnings and a 40 percent increase in PM density compared to last March.
(Top photo from Kaiterra)