Like many people motivated to create products, Bipan Singh found inspiration in words spoken by his child.
And just what were the magic words that turned this health executive into a connected home entrepreneur?
“Daddy, you’re putting too much salt” said Singh.
When Singh heard those words from his daughter as she complained about the scrambled eggs he had made her, he had an epiphany. “People don’t really have a precise way to measure salt,” he said.
So he started working on Smalt. Two years later, he showed off a prototype of the product at the Housewares Show in Chicago. The idea for the product has evolved; not only does the Smalt precisely measure salt, but it’s also features a Bluetooth speaker to play music and what Singh calls an “ambience light”. In short, Singh saw the opportunity to create a modern, multifunction centerpiece.
“Throw away your vase, throw away your speaker, throw away your salt shaker, throw away the candles,” said Singh. “I made this a smart centerpiece that is fully functional that does so many things for you.”
My feeling is Singh will need to sell this product as a multifunction device since a smart salt dispenser may seem like connected product overload for some. Singh also tells me the device will be integrated with Alexa and Google Home. It’s unclear (mostly because I forgot to ask) if this means the device will have Alexa built in to capture commands or it will simply be accessible for Alexa Skills or Google Home Actions, but I do definitely think having a device to capture voice commands on the kitchen table makes a lot of sense.
Singh said they will launch a crowdfunding campaign in early May and expects to ship in the product in November. As with any shipment estimates for crowdfunding projects, you’ll want to take those dates with a grain of salt (sorry not sorry).
You can check out my interview with Singh above.
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