GRAYL GeoPress Purifier

Key numbers

The product

GRAYL makes press-to-purify bottles: fill the outer cup from a stream, hotel sink or well, then press the inner cartridge down like a French press. In about 15 seconds, electroadsorptive media and a sub-micron membrane remove viruses as well as bacteria, protozoa, microplastics, chemicals and heavy metals. It is built for travellers, backpackers and emergency kits where taps cannot be trusted.

How they did it

GRAYL began in 2012 as a napkin sketch in a Seattle bar and was named one of GeekWire's Seattle 10 innovative startups in 2014. Its first Kickstarter raised over $250,000, and a 2016 campaign for the Ultralight bottle hit its $25,000 goal in three days. Co-founder Travis Merrigan says two earlier launches taught the team exactly what to strip away. The brand grew on a real engineering advantage plus a mission of donating at least 1% of every sale to environmental causes.

Why it worked

• A real technical advantage: fast, virus-safe purification
• Kickstarter served as both funding and product validation
• A clear adventure mission backed by 1% giving
• Iterative design that deliberately removed features