3 dads have found a way to bring clean air to China on the cheap

It’s like everyone who lives in China is in an on-off relationship with the nation’s air. Sunny blue days are the honeymoon. You and air can’t get enough of each other. You go on long walks, bike rides, and adventures. But it never lasts long. Soon, you’re hiding in your apartment, afraid to go outside or even open a window. And whenever you read about air, it’s described as “Unhealthy” or “Hazardous.”

If you want to breathe healthily in China, there are a suite of items to get your hands on. Firstly, an air quality app (free). Next, a cheap basic mask that will cost you no more than a few US dollars per disposable mask. Then, a high-quality home air purifier. Expect to shell out hundreds, or even thousands of freaking dollars for this one. Can you guess which of those items is most primed for disruption?

The Shanghai-based startup Mila has its sights set on the indoor air purifier market, where it’s aiming to leverage sleek design, smart features, and a unique business model to gain an advantage over competitors.

The company also has another trick up its sleeve: a founding team of concerned dads.

Do it for the kids

“After 14 years in China, air quality started becoming a serious problem for our family around 2013,” says Mila co-founder Grant Prigge. “We had a perfect storm: my wife became asthmatic, our two-year-old was constantly sick, and I started getting respiratory infections while training for a marathon.”

Grant is not alone – for many living in Shanghai, the winter of 2013 was a turning point. It was the first time that Shanghai saw a sustained, Beijing-style “airpocalypse.”

“I remember, I couldn’t even see across the street,” says co-founder Charles Liao. “At the end of 2013, there was a huge vacuum of people – if they could leave, they left.”

“For my daughter, she’s at an age where she can look outside in the morning and she’ll know if it’s a mask day,” Charles continues. “It’s kinda sad, but it’s been ingrained.”

In that same year, co-founder David Chitayat had his first child – and also began to take air quality more seriously.

The three dads were eager to improve the quality of air that they and their families were breathing – and they were uniquely qualified to do something about it. David had years of experience in manufacturing and sourcing in China, Charles in startups and marketing, and Grant in software development.

Most people buy air purifiers like French wine.

Making a good purifier isn’t rocket science. All you need is a HEPA filter (the high-quality filters that capture even the smallest toxic particles) and a fan to pull air through it.

A new model

See also: Hands-on with Xiaomi’s smart air purifier

Starting with Shanghai, but not staying there

And their timing couldn’t have been better. This winter has marked Beijing’s first-ever “Red Alerts” for smog, wherein the city closed public schools, cracked down on traffic, and taken emergency measures to attempt to clean up the air. Headlines about China’s atrocious air quality may not be reassuring for the billion-plus people who live there, but they sure make for some great marketing.