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Sankarshan Murthy settles into a couch at the Ikea Conference Center in the sleepy town of Almhult, in southern Sweden. The former engineer of Tesla Inc. and Apple Inc. is jet lagged after flying from San Francisco to launch his new company, BumbleBee Spaces, which has developed a robotic system to maximize the space in small apartments by raising the beds and other furniture to the ceiling. out of order.
BumbleBee was one of 18 companies invited by Ikea to participate in a "boot camp" at the end of March, following a selection process that gathered more than 1,100 nominations in the whole world. This program is part of the efforts of the largest furniture retailer in the world to attract a new generation of customers.
Murthy's robotic furniture includes sensors that can help users locate, for example, a hidden tennis racket at the back of a closet or to place a pair of sneakers near the door of the home. Entrance for an early morning jog, all at the touch of a button or a voice. order.
"It's like having an AI butler," said Murthy, who said he was inspired by clbadic Disney cartoons featuring robotic arms and other futuristic devices.
This is a big step forward compared to the unadorned furniture and dishes traditionally sold in Ikea stores. And it's not cheap. BumbleBee's bedroom system, installed in three apartment complexes in California and Washington, costs about $ 6,000 per room.
However, Ikea needs to reinvigorate its appeal to customers under 30 years old, raised in the sharing economy, who often care less about the property than the experience a product or service can offer. And their limited living spaces mean that they need less furniture.
"We are in the middle of the retail revolution. People are moving seamlessly between the physical and digital world, "said Per Krokstade, director of Ikea Training Camp. "Everyone wants smarter and more practical solutions than before."
Ikea is not the only retailer to partner with startups. Walmart Inc. owns a Silicon Valley Incubator that supports companies such as Jetblack, a concierge service for luxury city dwellers, and Spatialand, which creates virtual reality entertainment to connect merchandise sold in US-based stores. .
The challenge is particularly urgent for Ikea, which has a younger clientele than most other big box retailers.
"It's a generational difference," said Ray Gaul, senior vice president of research and badysis at Kantar Consulting. "Ikea became aware that they can no longer deny this and must change with culture."
The bootcamp is a means by which Ikea tries to overtake its flat furniture. (Photo by John Moore / Getty Images)
Ikea has already acquired TaskRabbit, a San Francisco-based start-up that is dispatching workers to bademble furniture at their customers' premises. And he is about to finish a prototype high-tech table that can light up or dull the room's lighting with the gesture of the hand. The technology uses electrodes coated with electroconductive paint developed by Bare Conductive, a London-based start-up who participated in Ikea's first training camp in 2018.
Among this year's participants, Freemi, based in Copenhagen, whose co-founders, Rasmus Thude and Jamie Neubert Pedersen, have developed an app to help people donate their old furniture and other belongings. "People, especially the younger generation, are fed up with our disposable culture," said Thude. This service, currently offered in Denmark and the Netherlands, is in line with Ikea's goal of reducing waste.
In parallel, Ikea has launched a furniture rental program that it plans to expand to 30 markets in Europe over the next year. Subscribers to the service can get new or used items that the retailer picks up at the end of the lease.
Other startups envisioned by Ikea include Jido Maps, based in San Francisco, which creates augmented reality software that allows users to save and retrieve digital objects from one session to another; London-based Skipping Rocks Lab, which has developed edible seaweed food containers that can be used in cafeterias in Ikea; and Copenhagen-based Flow Loop, which recycles and purifies shower water.
For entrepreneurs such as Murthy, the chance to partner with a company that sells $ 44 billion worth of goods a year is worth a bit of jet lag. In turn, Ikea wants startups to consider the retailer as a "natural partner," Krokstade said. "When they have made an innovation, they should come to Ikea and say, 'Look what we did. Can we co-create with you? "
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