👋 Welcome back! Happy to see you again, hope you’ve been well! 

🎉 Kicking off our rebrand, we’re thrilled to showcase our first student startup!

Stay tuned as we bring you new student founders every week!

 🚨 Quick Updates 

• We’ve rebranded to a new name: Varsity Ventures

• A new name calls for a new look, check out our website here

• Shifted from Substack -> Beehiiv (RIP The Weekly Scramble)

• All ventures, old and new, will have a spot on our website for future reference

From my desk: The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of college finals, web design, cold calls, and enough coffee to make a barista blink. 

With more exams knocking on next week’s door, let’s cut the small talk and get right into it…

🇬🇧 Coming all the way from London, a proptech company is reimagining the world of wall-building and protecting our planet….

 🎬 Behind the scenes

• Founders, Kongphat and Kolatat, at UcA and UoR in the UK

• Launched in April of 2022 and now work with 20 interns/researchers

• Prepping for a seed round of fundraising in spring

• Various projects with eco-sustainability as the name of the game 

🌍 Today’s Problem

With global warming cranking up the heat and pollution not improving much, the world is in need of a more concrete push for sustainability. Here’s why…

• The # of annual heat waves has increased 8x since 1980

• In buildings, heating and cooling takes up 50-60% of energy use

• Real estate is trying to go green as well, with developers looking for eco-friendly materials

These issues aren’t limited to commercial buildings; typical homes in most tropical regions struggle to keep their homes at comfortable temperatures without breaking the bank.

Also, this isn’t just affecting homeowners’ wallets, the unnecessary energy use furthers issues with pollution and air quality. 

Mix this hefty energy appetite with pollution from other manufacturers around the globe and you’ve got yourself a substantial serving of environmental worries. Bon appétit! 😬 

So… what's the next move? 

— Well, these two visionaries have a patented solution…

🧱 Brick by Brick Revolution

Combining their backgrounds in architecture and environmental sustainability, Kongphat and Kolatat crafted a new building material.

This patented, self-regulating thermal brick offers a more energy-efficient solution. It also tackles waste by incorporating recycled materials like shells, glass, and plastic into its manufacturing process.

For more in-depth details on the brick and manufacturing process itself, click here

Getting manufacturers on board is currently underway, specifically, talks are being had with producers in Thailand.

Overall, Phytavaren is gearing up for major expansion. They’re just waiting on a few head nods (letters of intent) from construction companies and final touches on their license agreements. 

This brick isn’t just any other building material: — it's building a brighter future

📈 Catalysts for Phytavaren

Kongphat and Kolatat have been hustling, getting signed off on multiple deals with manufacturers, builders, and generating over $40k in revenue so far…

30 tons of their bricks have already been used in the construction of an indigenous bird conservatory and a one-story residential home.

Phytavaren is doing the right things. They’re building strategic relationships with the Japanese External Trade Organization and Thailand’s Board of Investment. This helps them secure more countries to expand into going forward in 2024.

Plus, they’ve got some academic allies in their corner!

Several colleges have joined their mission with PhD researchers lending a hand to help oversee the brick’s chemical makeup during production and evaluate the material’s airflow process.

🚧 The Road Ahead

The only potential speed bump is ensuring their bricks comply with international building regulations since each nation has its own slightly different rules and processes.

While they wait for further investments to come in, they’re currently zeroing in on having a manufacturing plant to commit to exclusively producing their brick.

Once that’s secured they are off to the races…or should I say…construction sites 🏗️

💡 College Entrepreneur Insight

As a college student myself, I love asking other students what their biggest advantages has been starting a college as a student, versus waiting until after graduation.

An insight I took away from my meeting with Kolatat and Konphat was their view on higher education.

They view college as more of a research institution than a school, which allows students the time (as long as they’re not cramming for finals) and resources to find gaps in the existing research.

From there, pairing those gaps in research with current market conditions allows students the opportunity to pursue many different business ideas all while taking classes.

Looking at college as a research institution, instead of an extension of my K-12 education is something I already knew. However, it never really resonated with me until now, but I definitely prefer their way of thinking about this. 

📫 Thanks for sticking with us through this rebrand!

Join us next week to read about another student-led startup that uses AI to help their peers retain more from their lectures. 👀 

Their product stays awake so you don't have to — JK

But, let’s face it, even your coffee needs coffee sometimes.

–Owen