{"id":51481,"date":"2019-08-09T08:14:22","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T06:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/?p=51481"},"modified":"2021-04-01T15:06:10","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T13:06:10","slug":"air-up-7-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.munich-startup.net\/en\/51481\/air-up-7-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Up: Air with fragrance for water with taste"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Munich-based startup Air Up has launched an innovative technology that Water flavored solely by fragrance<\/a>This world first has been on the market since the beginning of August, supported by seed investors Frank Thelen and Ralf D\u00fcmmel, among others. Lena J\u00fcngst and Tim J\u00e4ger initially researched this innovation; now the founding team is complete with Jannis Koppitz, Simon N\u00fcesch, and Fabian Schlang. COO Fabian Schlang answered our 7 questions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Who are you and what do you do? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Our interview partner, Air Up-COO Fabian Schlang <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We at Air Up have developed a world-first beverage technology that can flavor water using only scent. The Air Up bottle uses a trick to do this: retronasal smelling through the mouth. The bottle's replaceable fragrance pods add fragrant air to plain water as you drink. When you swallow, this air separates from the water and rises through the throat to the olfactory center, where it is perceived as flavor. The beverage itself remains 100 percent natural water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several years passed from the prototype to market launch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We developed our idea for three years until, after more than 200 different designs and further developments, the bottle was finally ready for market launch. The project originally began with Lena and Tim's product design studies at the university in Schw\u00e4bisch Gm\u00fcnd in 2016. After Jannis, Simon, and I joined as students at the Technical University of Munich as additional founders, our office relocated to Incubator of the TU<\/a> to Garching. With the help of various start-up grants, we were able to attract investors like Ralf D\u00fcmmel and Frank Thelen last year and thus begin production of the first bottles. We are now located with our 14-person team on Schillerstrasse in the heart of Munich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. But that's been around for a long time!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple answer: no! We're truly a world first. There are already drinking systems that claim to impart taste through smell. However, these currently work through the nose, which doesn't work particularly well. With us, the smell comes through the mouth, i.e., retronasally, so our brain interprets it as taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. What has been your biggest challenge so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of our biggest challenges right now is explaining our innovative system to people. Many people have never heard that humans can perceive smell through the mouth and therefore can't imagine that the same thing really works with taste, just through scent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Otherwise, of course, we faced the same challenges as other founders: Where do you get money for production? How do you find good employees? Or what do you do if you simply can't get your VAT number because an office is on vacation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Office in the Shillicon Valley <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

4. Let\u2019s get down to business: How is business going? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We're very pleased with how sales have taken off on QVC and Amazon. On Amazon, in particular, we were able to become a bestseller in our category in less than 24 hours and also an 'Amazon's Choice,' which was, of course, super cool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since August 5, we've also been available in brick-and-mortar stores. You can find us on the shelves at Real National, among others. And that's not just great for the rhyme, but national availability is, of course, important. That's why we're also available at Rewe, Edeka, and other retailers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • \"Air<\/figure><\/li>
  • \"Air<\/figure><\/li>
  • \"Air<\/figure><\/li>
  • \"Air<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    5. What does Munich mean to you<\/strong>? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Not only because Lena, Jannis, and I are true Munich natives, we also believe that Munich offers the best location in Germany for startups. Here, founders find support not only from the university, but also from industry and numerous funding programs. And on Schillerstra\u00dfe\u2014or as we call it 'Shillicon Valley'\u2014there is fortunately still affordable office space by Munich standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    6. Will your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we see you soon at Epic Fail Night?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If we didn't believe in it, we would have long since sought jobs with more convenient working hours. But of course, we're realists. Failure can never be ruled out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Air Up as a replacement for a cyclist?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    7. Hiking or beer garden?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Hiking! And then a summit sip. That's the best way to enjoy it. Thanks to our Radler fragrance pod, we can now do it in a completely sporty, alcohol-free way. And we don't even have to carry heavy items; we simply refill our Air Up bottle from the trough on the go, and have five liters of flavor with us\u2014right in our pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Editor's note: Our test showed that the flavored water from Air Up doesn't taste quite as sweet and intense as a shandy. But that's just the nature of things\u2014how could water taste sweet without sugar? However, we think sugar-free isn't a bad idea for hiking.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Munich-based startup Air Up has launched an innovative technology that flavors water using only scent. This world first has been on the market since the beginning of August, supported by seed investors Frank Thelen and Ralf D\u00fcmmel, among others. Lena J\u00fcngst and Tim J\u00e4ger initially researched this innovation, and now it's...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":51494,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5634,5638,4074,1083],"tags":[4202,3856,2538,875],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAir Up: Luft mit Duft f\u00fcr Wasser mit Geschmack - Munich Startup<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Das M\u00fcnchner Startup Air Up hat eine innovative Technologie auf den Markt gebracht, die Wasser allein \u00fcber Duft aromatisiert. 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