It’s Tea Time At 500 Startups With Hawaiian Startup Tealet

Tealet,500startups,Hawaiian startup,startup,startups,startup interview, dave mcclureSubscription startups are blowing up these days. It seems there’s a subscription service or subscription box for just about anything (and everything). We’ve reported on, or interviewed, quite a few here at nibletz, including KlutchClub, Bulu Box, FlavrBox and hip hop artist Nas’ subscription startup 12 society.

Today we’ve got Hawaiian startup Tealet. Tealet is about sampling tea just as much as it is about discovering tea. Tealet co-founder Elyse Peterson told us in an interview “Tealet tells the stories of tea growers around the world and allows tea drinkers to explore these teas through a bi-monthly subscription service.”

After the customer gets their tea bi-monthly tea samples they can go back to the tealet website and order larger quantities of the teas they like.

Tealet isn’t about mass produced coffee house teas or even the teas that you can pick up at your local Whole Foods or Trader Joes. Through Peterson’s personal experience, connecting with actual tea growers around the world, Tealet members are getting access to the most interesting and best tasting farm grown teas in the world. Check out the interview below to read how Peterson fell in love with farm grown teas and the farmers who make it.

What is Tealet? 

Tealet (http://www.tealet.com) is a marketplace that connects tea drinkers with tea growers

In layman’s terms, how does it work? (In other words how would you explain it to your grandmother)

Tealet tells the stories of tea growers around the world and allows tea drinkers to explore these teas through a bi-monthly subscription service. Tea lovers can then learn more about their favorite teas and purchase them in larger quantities on the Tealet marketplace.

Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?

Tealet is a diverse team with one common goal: to create a bridge between tea growers and tea drinkers.

Founder, Elyse Petersen and Cofounder, Jane Gonsowski learned about the infinite opportunity for a Hawai‘i Grown Tea Industry while co-authoring a collaborative research study at the University of Hawaii. After completing this report they looked at a variety of business models that would help develop a healthy industry in Hawaii. Tealet was born when Founder Elyse Petersen pitched the idea at Startup Weekend Honolulu on April 28, 2012. This event was a great launching point to put their passion of empowering tea farmers towards a viable business model. Since this event Jane and Elyse built a marketplace, launched a subscription service, and have been invited to the 500 Startups accelerator program. The team now includes a developer and new media director.

Where are you Tealet?

Tealet is based in Honolulu, Hawaii which is centrally located between major tea-growing regions in Asia and tea lovers in the US. Hawaii is also the US’s largest domestic producer of tea.

What’s the startup scene/culture like where you’re based?

The startup community in Honolulu is young but growing. Entrepreneurs in Hawaii have many interesting problems to solve in the world’s most isolated land mass dealing with renewable energy, food self-sufficiency, and sustainable economic development. The government is also very interested in promoting entrepreneurship because they see the advantages of a more diverse and technology-focused economy in the state. Coworking spaces and technology meet-up groups are growing in popular and there is a great support community that gives access to resources.

How did you come up with the idea for Tealet?

I started thinking about Tealet while I was living on a tea farm in Kyoto, Japan for four months during the internship portion of my MBA program. I connected with many tea growers around the world and noticed that they all had very similar challenges when dealing with getting their product to market. The conventional corporate system allows for little profits for the grower while the end user does not gain access to high quality tea that can only be found at the farm. I am an advocate for these growers and tea lovers that deserve to experience the best tea the world has to offer.

How did you come up with the name?

The name of Tealet was discovered during Startup Weekend Honolulu. I knew that we had to find a name that focused on tea, but was also short enough that people could remember. Tealet.com was the only available URL that fit our requirements and we are very happy that we made that selection. It’s easy to explain, it’s an outlet for tea!

What problem does Tealet solve?

Complex distribution systems have pulled consumers farther and farther away from the source of specialty tea. Many independent farmers are not profitable in these systems. The U.S. specialty tea market is on the incline and becoming more engaged; seeking the opportunity to connect from where their products come. Most of these growers are in foreign countries, don’t speed English, and don’t know how to access the U.S. market.

What’s your secret sauce?

Tealet’s secret sauce is its focus on integrating with the tea industry ecosystem and optimizing value not just for the end-user but also the producer. The website is geared to empower growers to market directly to their customers and receive more value. Although we have confidence in the quality and attractiveness of the specialty tea on our website, we know that building a trusting and transparent community is the most important task.

Are you bootstrapped or funded?

We have recently been funded through the 500 Startups accelerator program and are currently fundraising a seed round. More information about the company’s activity you can see: https://angel.co/tealet

What’s one challenge you’ve overcome in the startup process?

The main challenge that we have been facing is finding a fit in the technology community. Tealet is a social enterprise and although impact investing is on the incline it still takes a little explaining to other technology companies to understand the economic potential for a social enterprise. Our traction is enough now to get the point.

Who are some of your mentors and business role models?

500 Startups has an extraordinary mentor network ranging from design, growth, marketing, and finance. Dave Mcclure is very engaged with the accelerator and has a very charming way of showing startups the path to success and happiness. I’m very glad to be working with him and the rest of the 500 Startups staff. We also work with mentors in Hawaii who do an incredible job of keeping us focused on our mission and give us great insight into how to create community.

What’s next for Tealet?

Tealet is focusing on the holiday season as many people want to give tea to their tea loving friends. The team will also travel to the countryside of Kyoto, Japan to attend the Teatopia Festival to document the story of this ancient tea gathering. These stories along with others will be distributed through high quality video on Youtube and Vimeo.

Linkage:

Check out Tealet here

Here are more 500startups stories from nibletz.com

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