Woosh on 'Shark Tank': What is the cost, who is the founder, and how to improve the air quality of your home
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Did you know that the air in your home can be five times worse than the air outside? Thanks to widespread allergies, wildfires, and even Covid-19, the demand for air purifiers has shot up amongst the general public. Most people end up investing in room purifiers.
Sadly room purifiers do not solve the problem of air quality for the entire home. In-room air purifiers are simply band-aid fixes while the real solution is using the HVAC (heating, ventilation, air-conditioning) system to purify the air of your whole household. While HVAC filters cover the whole house, the biggest problem with most traditional HVAC filters is that homeowners don't realize when they need to be changed. If you change too often, you're just throwing your money away. If you leave them without changing for too long and it could damage the entire system. So, what is one to do? Luckily, with Woosh you can take the guesswork out of figuring out when to change your filters. Woosh's founder Winston Mok will be pitching his smart air purifier before the Sharks- Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Kevin O'Leary, Daymond John, and Robert Herjavec, in the upcoming episode 4 of 'Shark Tank' Season 14. Will Woosh prove to be the breath of fresh air for Sharks? Only time will tell, in the meanwhile, you can learn more about Woosh and its founder Winston here.
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What is Woosh?
Ever wondered how clean your air really is? Just like your thermostat measures the temperature of your air, the Woosh Air Quality Monitor (AQM) continuously monitors your home's indoor air quality. When the air needs cleaning, the AQM automatically protects your home's air by turning on the HVAC fan to filter the air. Woosh is an Air Quality Monitor & Smart Air Filter that work together to automatically protect your entire home's air. Woosh actively monitors air quality and when paired with a Nest or Ecobee Smart Thermostat, automatically circulates filtered air when air quality is poor.
Woosh Air filters remove solid particulates and contaminants from the air to improve the air quality in places where people live, work, and play. Woosh Air filters consist of a sturdy frame, filled with carefully designed filter media, which is sealed to prevent leaks between the frame and media. Woosh air filters can be used in any application requiring clean air. The foldable filter media makes refill filters easy to ship and allows dirty filters to be disposed of in an ordinary kitchen trash can. Woosh also provides transparency into your home's air quality with the Woosh Air Quality Monitor and the Woosh app. Ever wonder if your air filter is really working? With the Woosh app you can see filter life and the level of particulates in your air in real time. Woosh auto replenishment automatically reorders a filter insert when your current filter is full. No more wondering if it's time to change, remembering to buy a new filter and trying not to forget to change the old one.
Here's how it works:
Connect air-quality monitor to smart thermostat and install smart filter
Poor air quality triggers alert
Woosh requests air circulation
Household air is actively filtered
Air quality goes back to normal
Who is the founder of Woosh?
Winston Mok founder Woosh in 2018 after the forest fires in California. "The lack of air filters and the need for clean air drove the desire for a better solution. In true startup style, the first Woosh products were made from air filters and fans in a California garage. With a small army of 3D printers and a team of dedicated innovators, Woosh quickly made a splash into the world of HVAC," states the brand's website.
Winston holds a degree in Computer & Mechanics Engineering from University of Waterloo. Prior to founding Woosh, Winston was a senior product manager at Google. According to his LinkedIn profile, he was also the CEO and co-founder of Simply Good Technologies from 2008 to 2015. "At Simply Good Technologies we develop innovative Offer Management Solutions (OMS). Our solutions simplify the management, distribution and redemption of promotions online, in-email or on mobile. We believe 'offers' are increasingly becoming an integral part of the marketing mix for consumer-focused organizations. Our OMS enables clients to easily manage, distribute and track redemption of consumer offers whether online, in email or through mobile. We help clients create and customize offers to reach new customers and strengthen brand loyalty and advocacy," he explained on his profile.
What is the cost and where to buy Woosh from?
Woosh is currently still in production phase and isn't out in the market yet. However, the brand is accepting pre-orders through its website and on its Kickstarter Campaign. You can get your very own smart filter for $99, and a smart filter with air quality monitor bundle for $149. Though the product isn't out in the market yet, the Woosh filters have received rave reviews from its beta testers across America.
A beta tester named Tanya H. from Preston, WA wrote, "I'm impressed that it has been so well thought out with sustainable construction and usability of the product. The reusable frame is great, less material to throw out each time. The fact that the filter itself is foldable for ease of shipping to a home and easy to fold up when disposing of the filter is an excellent solution! The filter material seems much more durable than Filtrete or other similar brands. This filter seems like it can truly trap finite dust and debris so much better."
Where is Woosh now?
In April 2022, Woosh launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the smart air purifier's production costs. The campaign managed to raise a whopping $62,817 from 336 backers. The campaign ended in May 2022, and the production of the Woosh units began. The Kickstarter backers and pre-order customers are expected to receive the Woosh units from January 2023 onwards.
"Beta testing began in San Francisco in June and expanded to the entire Bay Area by August. We’ve since launched in Sacramento, Austin, Dallas, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and my home town Toronto," wrote founder Winston on the brand's website. "Our beta testing has provided priceless feedback that has allowed us to continue to improve the design. Bringing transparency and awareness to air quality is key to what drives us at Woosh. We are excited to bring the Woosh Smart Air Filter and new style filter media to the market very soon," he added.
Who will steal the deal?
Considering the product still hasn't hit the market and there's no customer feedback available yet, the chances of sharks making an offer is pretty slim. But if there's any Shark who may take interest in this product it would have to be Robert Herjavec, owing to the tech aspect of the smart air purifier.
'Shark Tank' Season 14 Episode 4 airs on ABC on October 14, 2022, at 8 pm ET. Catch the latest episode featuring products like Storage Scholars, Expedition SubSahara, Ghia, and Woosh.
Missed an episode? Been wanting to catch up? Episodes can also be viewed the next day on demand and on Hulu. Not just that, you can also watch old seasons and episodes on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes.