Case Studies > Three Brothers Launch Innovative Pressed-Water Bottle Company with SOLIDWORKS for Entrepreneurs

Three Brothers Launch Innovative Pressed-Water Bottle Company with SOLIDWORKS for Entrepreneurs

Customer Company Size

SME

Region

America

Country

Canada

Product

SOLIDWORKS for Entrepreneurs
SOLIDWORKS Education Edition
Pressa Bottle

Tech Stack

3D Printing
SOLIDWORKS 3D Design Software

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Revenue Growth
Innovation Output
Customer Satisfaction

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)
Functional Applications - Product Data Management Systems

Applicable Industries

Consumer Goods
Retail

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development
Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Rapid Prototyping

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services
System Integration

About The Customer

Brothers Jesse, Luke, and Mason Hambly were college students when they had the idea for a healthy thirst quencher that presses fruit juice directly into water. The trio of brothers, who deferred college a couple years to try to make it on the professional snowboarding circuit, noticed that their college classmates were infusing water using the same inefficient method of submerging fruit in infuser bottles. After testing infuser bottles, the brothers noted that while they helped them to drink more water, the infused water lacked flavor. In fact, they learned that instead of releasing fruit juice into the water, infuser bottles did the exact opposite: The fruit absorbed water, bloated, and created a mess that had to be cleaned out later, without ever releasing the flavorful juice inside. This experience led to the idea for a water bottle with a twist dial on top, which operates a press inside. By turning the dial on top, users press the juice from fruit and its flavor directly into the water. Luke, who was studying design engineering at Conestoga College, took on the concept of pressed water as his senior design project, and the Pressa Bottle was born.

The Challenge

Transform an innovative pressed-fruit water bottle design that was created for a college design project into a viable manufacturing company. The brothers noticed that their college classmates were infusing water using the same inefficient method of submerging fruit in infuser bottles. After testing infuser bottles, they noted that while they helped them to drink more water, the infused water lacked flavor. Instead of releasing fruit juice into the water, infuser bottles did the exact opposite: The fruit absorbed water, bloated, and created a mess that had to be cleaned out later, without ever releasing the flavorful juice inside. This experience led to the idea for a water bottle with a twist dial on top, which operates a press inside. By turning the dial on top, users press the juice from fruit and its flavor directly into the water.

The Solution

Implement SOLIDWORKS for Entrepreneurs product development software. Luke Hambly’s initial design for the Pressa Bottle—created with SOLIDWORKS Education Edition software—was so innovative and carried so much commercial potential that upon graduation, he enlisted the help of his brothers. Jesse manages marketing and ecommerce, and Mason is a filmmaker who creates video content for the company. The brothers then set out to transform a college design project into an innovative product supporting a viable manufacturing business, with SOLIDWORKS for Entrepreneurs software as their product development solution. With a workable product idea, the Hambly brothers were shrewd enough to recognize that other companies might try to steal or copy their pressed-water bottle idea. So their first order of business was applying for a patent on the Pressa Bottle to protect their intellectual property (IP). “Although I designed the Pressa Bottle for a college course, I and my brothers owned the IP and immediately filed for the patent, which we have since received,” Luke recalls. “We had a viable product design, an excellent tool in SOLIDWORKS for refining the design prior to production, and agreement that it was time to take a risk. The next step was finding a way to make it into a business.”

Operational Impact

Realized projected sales of 200,000 bottles in 2019.
Adapted initial product design into three products.
Leveraged design and 3D-printed materials to launch Kickstarter campaign.
Secured patent for pressed-fruit water bottle.
The company has continued to grow since the “Dragon’s Den” funding, with a steady increase in sales.

Quantitative Benefit