Two sleep-deprived new dads turn a rough sketch into a multi-million dollar business as they come up with a revolutionary way of washing, drying and sterilising baby bottles
- Ricky Hee and Alexander Djojoutomo have created a new baby bottle cleaner
- They were on a flight together and talking about parenthood when idea struck
- Both were new fathers and wanted a quicker and easier way to clean bottles
- The idea for the Bottle Bath was born and it's set to hit the marker in 2020
It was on a flight to a friend's wedding that two sleep-deprived new fathers turned a conversation about the difficulties of parenthood into a lucrative lightbulb moment.
Perth friends Ricky Hee and Alexander Djojoutomo began talking about a way to hasten the bottle-cleaning chore when an idea came to them.
Recognising there was a gap in the market, the two men decided to launch a business, and the Bottle Bath was born.
Friends and father Rickey Hee and Alexander Djojoutomo (pictured with their daughters Alana and Chantelle) were on a flight to a friend's wedding when they agreed they needed to sold the problem of waching baby bottles
The product is a three-in-one cleaner which washes, sterilises and then dries baby bottles after use.
Its design includes a clear cleaning dome, a clean water tank, a menu button and a base unit.
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'We were new dads, and hands on dads, and we noticed we spent a lot of time cleaning bottles,' Mr Hee told Daily Mail Australia.
'You get stuck in the kitchen for longer than expected so we started to talk about whether there was a product out there to make it easier.'
They knew they were onto a solid idea when they found bottle cleaners hadn't changed much over time.
'New parents have a lot to learn and we figured this product would help ease some of the stress of being a first-time parent,' Mr Hee said.
While sleep deprived and on the plane they both agreed bottle cleaning took up more time than necessary and decided they would 'try and fix the problem' before starting to design (pictured)
After drafting some design ideas they knew they needed expert help and financial backers to bring the Bottle Bath to market.
However Mr Djojoutomo said they weren't going to take just a rough design and some notes to investors and expect an investment
'It wouldn't have been fair,' he said.
Instead each man invested $100,000 each into the idea over the next four years.
First they created their company, Altelle, which they named by combining the names of their eldest daughters Alana and Chantelle.
Lacking the engineering skills required to mass produce the product, they partnered with Singapore engineering firm ORCA Applied Engineering Solutions.
Over the past 18 months ORCA and Altelle worked on the industrial design for the Bottle Bath and tested multiple iterations.
Once they had settled on a design and moved toward making a prototype they were again deciding if finding investors was their next step.
Instead of finding traditional investors the men decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign where anyone could 'back them'.
They reached their desired total of $81,000 within 10 days of launching the campaign.
After investing $100,000 each into the idea and working with designers the Bottle Bath prototype was finally created (Mr Hee and Mr Djojoutomo pictured with the prototype)
'It's sort of like a pre-order system we have set up so the people who back us will be the first to get it,' Mr Djojoutomo said.
It was a big leap of faith for both men who said it was the largest investment either of them had made.
'Month after month we were putting more money into it and I felt like a gambler,' Mr Hee said.
'But then my wife told me a gambler expects instant gratification and what we were doing was a calculated risk.
'We are simply just dads trying to find a solution to a problem.'
Mr Djojoutomo said the journey from concept to prototype had been long and tough but 'rewarding at the same time'.
'It's a bit surreal, it has become our baby and now it feels like it has graduated kindergarten and is moving into school,' Mr Hee said.
The Bottle Bath will ship its first batch this July and both men said once parents got their hands on the product it would be a game changer.
The first batch will consist of 1000 units which will sell at $AUD720 so if all 1000 sold in Australia the friends stand to make $720,000.
The father's used Kickstarter to find almost 100 extra financial backers who will be the first to receive the product when it ships in July of 2020
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