Baru

OUR CHALLENGE:
Manufacturing today is centralized and typically far from the customer – causing supply chain disruptions, poor quality, long lead times, and less customer choice.

OUR OPPORTUNITY:
Create an ecosystem where manufacturing can be virtualized and decentralized. The value for customers, manufacturers, and the environment is tremendous.

OUR ENTRY MARKET:
We chose furniture to start because it’s heavy, hard and expensive to ship, and it is an industry ready for disruption.

BARU virtualizes furniture manufacturing.

• BARU lets anyone design their perfect home effortlessly, affordably, and quickly. Choose the product you love and customize it for your specific needs.
• BARU makes our products in our customers' hometowns. We support our local communities. We share our profits with our hometown business partners and material suppliers.
• BARU is saving the environment. We've eliminated long-distance shipping for our finished products to save freight costs and greenhouse gas emissions. 

BARU Saves the Environment

Our journey started in 2014. BARU's founder, Tino, couldn't find a bookcase that perfectly fit a spot in his house. He was appalled by how difficult it was to buy a correctly-sized bookcase, of reasonable quality and price. After setting out to get one custom made, he discovered the current market was outrageously priced and took months to produce.

When he spoke to others about the shopping process, he discovered that other folks had experienced the same frustrations. Surveying online strangers resulted in the same opinions. Tino realized--shopping for furniture that fits perfectly is entirely unsatisfactory.

Tino was determined to change that shopping experience. He would make buying custom furniture as easy as clicking on Amazon.

A Robotics Revelation

Tino has a background in overseeing manufacturing companies. He knew that manufacturing software and robotics had become easy to use and the machines inexpensive enough that hundreds of small cabinet and millwork manufacturers around the country had them, and knew those machines were super underused. They cut through wood like a hot knife through butter! These machines would often be done with the workshop’s daily work needs in just two hours.

Tino also discovered that the machine owners were eager to keep them operating and generating profits. He realized that the machines' geographic distribution could be used for local manufacturing to avoid long-distance shipping and its high costs.

Producing on demand in the customer's hometown lets BARU spend much less on shipping and inventory management. We use those savings on higher-grade materials to make better products.

BARU’s Challenges and BARU’s AR Solution

But our team had two Challenges that we had to solve:

• Using the automated machines needed a lot of programming. The added time would slow down production. And the cost of programming for each custom product would make products too expensive.
• It was hard for shoppers to feel confident about how a piece of custom furniture would look in their homes. BARU needed to show shoppers how that furniture would look before they purchased.
  

We let shoppers customize furniture before buying with Augmented Reality. Buy custom furniture from the convenience of an app!

Tino needed a rockstar team who could help build the foundation of the technology and the company’s culture. Meet our executive team.

2021 Operating Plan

Google endorsed BARU as an official supplier of home-office desks for employees. Other companies have requested us to become a preferred supplier in their Employee Perks Programs managed by Passport Corporate. 

BARU Summarized

1. Buy the exact sized furniture you need from the convenience of an app.
   Use the BARU app if you have a specific spot in which you want to put your desk, dresser, or bookcase. No need to be looking through hundreds of products that have bad reviews or aren’t exactly the size you want.
3. Support your community and local businesses. 
4. Buy USA-made quality products made with environmentally-friendly materials that are safe for your family and home. No more buying low-quality imports that arrive at your home damaged or with missing parts. No more hassles puzzling together products with instructions written in a foreign language.
7. Stop overpaying for inferior products.
   A large portion of furniture cost goes to overhead and long-distance shipping, not materials. Get better quality materials for competitive prices. Reduce your carbon footprint without compromising your home’s design and aesthetic taste.

Own part of our revolutionary company that also is changing the world for the better!