A new startup from PhD candidate Rehman Merali (UTIAS PhD 1T5) enables tea-lovers to make a personalized cup of tea from a beverage-weilding robot in under 30 seconds.
“It’s not just a great cup of tea, it’s also the experience,” said Merali, who co-founded teaBOT with his childhood friend, Brian Lee. “You see each ingredient fall down, the water temperature at exactly what you specified, watching the cup of tea made before your eyes.”
The team launched a prototype in 2013 through Rotman’s Creative Destruction Lab, and is now part of the JOLT business incubator at the MaRS Discovery District.
The teaBOT kiosks target high-traffic urban locations where tea lovers need a quick on-the-go cup. Using the company’s app, customers can order a customized blend, choosing from 18 loose-leaf teas, and collect their specialized hot beverage in under 30 seconds.
The project has been piloted at the downtown campus, Harry Rosen stores and at the MaRS Discovery district. In December, the team launched an ecommerce site that lets customers reorder their blends to drink at home.
According to the startup’s business manager, next on the development list are “tap to pay” capabilities, adjustable water temperature and new locations around university campuses, transit hubs and malls.
For Merali, the business model is unique, in part because of its capacity for personalization.
“It’s up to the user’s imagination to create those blends and share them with their friends and family,” he said. “Then, they get to try something special that you’ve created for them.”
Entrepreneur Francis Shen (UTIAS MASc 8T3), an alumnus of the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, recently established a new entrepreneurial incubation program at the Institute called UTIAS Start, which backed teaBOT with a grant of $25,000 in February.
“The program was set up to encourage and facilitate UTIAS students to utilize the knowledge they have gained through their education and life experience to create business startups and teaBot is a great example,” said Shen. “The leadership team is passionate and resourceful and have a deep understanding of their core market – tea.”
“They are using technologies to revolutionize something quite traditional.”
