Mitipi conquers the United States
By Tiphaine Bühler for PME magazine
Mitipi conquers the United States
At a time when the number of burglaries is rising steadily in Switzerland, the Fribourg-based start-up and its intelligent security box named Kevin have come at just the right time.
The company is currently raising 2 million francs in capital.
The figures have not yet been finalized, but by 2023, almost 40,000 burglaries will have been recorded in France, representing an increase of almost 20%!
“Two-thirds of these offences take place during the day”, explains Patrick Cotting (photo), CEO of Mitipi, a start-up that has developed a device that simulates a presence in the home.
“To validate our concept, we interviewed both burglars and police officers, from Zurich to Chicago”, says the serial entrepreneur from Fribourg, who is also a lecturer at the Universities of Fribourg, Neuchâtel and Lugano, the head of a consulting company and a business angel.
Around 50 students from Fribourg worked on the project, carrying out surveys during study trips to the Washington District, Boston and Berkeley.
U.S. market in sight
Unsurprisingly, the American market is in Mitipi’s sights.
The country records 3 million burglaries a year.
“We opened an office in Santa Clara, California. I wanted to be visible to Google, Apple and Amazon, who sell traditional security systems. Our technology is different and very well protected. Mitipi’s ultimate vision is to make the world a safer place, and if that means becoming part of a large group, that’s a logical step for a start-up”, he confides.
It is made in China, where the tech giants have their headquarters.
Meanwhile, the 30-strong start-up has just signed a partnership with French real estate group Foncia to distribute Kevin in France.
It also has an office in Berlin.
This way of expanding in Europe limits administrative constraints,” notes the CEO. Some people are surprised by the time spent on our legal structure and market research. But it’s a sustainable strategy for a start-up.”
It has to be said that the early days were not all plain sailing.
A spin-off of Helvetia Group, Mitipi was founded in Zurich in 2018.
Patrick Cotting joined the company in the summer of 2019, just as cash was running out.
In January 2020, a capital increase prevents the company from filing for bankruptcy.
Cotting, surrounded by investors, paid off the debts.
He then moved the company to the Bluefactory site in Fribourg.
The pandemic arrives, which is bad timing for a product designed to simulate a presence at home.
Although Kevin’s beginnings were difficult, a number of patrons always believed in him, including 28-year-old Ulrich Doenges (COO), International Director at P&G, Hans Rafael Meier (CMO), former Marketing Director at Swatch and SIGG, and René Cotting (CFO), former CFO at ABB.
In 2024, a CHF 2 million fundraising campaign was launched.
Early indications are that it could close before September.