Inspired by an article on new advances in the art and science of origami, Willis sketched a few ideas for a folding kayak. Operating Status of Organization e.g. He was also a keen paddler, but after moving to the San Francisco bay area in 2002 he faced the difficulty of getting to the outdoors from a large congested city, let alone storing a large kayak in his apartment. Oru Kayak Inc. is dedicated to sharing the wonder of the great outdoors—especially for city dwellers. Active, Closed. The only problem? Our revenues are around $5 million per year. Dr. Lang folded everything from anatomically correct paper insects to a NASA space telescope lens. Designer and founder Anton Willis grew up in rural Mendocino County, with easy access to rivers, lakes, and the ocean. ", "I found Starter Story a few months ago, and I fell in love with the case studies. Its design utilizes principles of origami to derive incredible structural strength from simple, lightweight materials. In the late summer, it’s bioluminescent, so it can be really spectacular. Paacked away and ready for transport. We sell a backpack that goes with it that’s fully ergonomic and can be used for hiking, so you can hike into a mountain lake that’s not accessible by road and paddle in places where no one has ever paddled before. Q: What was the biggest roadblock that came up in the design process? In 2008, a move into a small San Francisco apartment forced his fiberglass kayak into storage. Founded in 2012, Oru Kayak is a foldable kayak and is Anton Willis’ answer to the struggle of getting outdoors when living in a large, busy and crowded urban area. People have come up with some other interesting things: They have put them on prop planes and float planes to fly into remote lakes or fjords. Oru Kayak Inc. 2020 DESIGNED & ENGINEERED IN CALIFORNIA Use left/right arrows to navigate the slideshow or swipe left/right if using a mobile device. That was kind of the first folding test and the first design challenge that was solved, probably a day or two after I read the article. A: The biggest one was figuring out how to make the case and boat work at the same time. Oru Kayak General Information Description. Inspired by an article on new advances in the art and science of origami, he sketched a few ideas for a folding kayak. At the same time, I would take it on the subway and put it in the trunk of my small sedan. Founder Pravda Capital s.r.o., Pravda Capital Trading s.r.o. Inspired by origami, Oru Kayak founder Anton Willis has successfully developed an all- plastic boat that’s fully recyclable, extremely durable, and able to be folded into its carrying case that can be stored in a closet or under the bed. This company has built a reputable kayaking presence and offers the top three most sought-after folding vessels in … Yugen Adventure was born out of my search to find a kayak that could fit into my “shoebox sized” apartment. Q: Did materials influence or guide the design process? All images courtesy Oru Kayak. I grew up in the rural backwoods of Northern California. A: There was a moment when I asked myself the question, “Could a kayak fold up like a piece of paper?” The middle part could be figured out but I didn’t know how the ends would work. After moving to a small San Francisco apartment, architect Anton Willis was sadly forced to put his fiberglass kayak into storage. “The inspiration behind the Oru Kayak is to enable urban, apartment dwellers to have a kayak that is easily storable and transportable. As a kid, I had two overwhelmi... Full access to case studies, filters, and business ideas database, All access pass: All courses & guides to start your business, "An amazing network of founders that truly want to help each other grow their business. They're back with new models, the Coast and Coast+, that are 16' long Willis found a partner, moved the prototype shop from his buddy’s garage to a maker space in San Francisco, raised nearly half a million dollars in what was the biggest crowdfunding campaign for an outdoor product at the time, and locked down a manufacturer to build the first run of folding kayaks. Anton Willis, CDO at Oru Kayak, moved to the Bay Area in 2002 and immediately encountered the struggle of getting outside while living in a large metropolitan city. I grew up in the rural backwoods of Northern California. Review: Oru’s Newest Foldable Kayak Is Their Best Yet, for Amateurs, These Are the Most Innovative Outdoor Products Coming in 2018, These Are the Most Innovative Outdoor Products Coming in 2019, 27 Innovative Products from Europe’s Most Important Outdoor Gear Show, 9 Innovative Products from Germany’s OutDoor Show. Oru Kayak uploaded and added to Oru Kayak University: Paddling 101 8 months ago 9:52 Oru Kayak How To: Sweep and Draw Strokes - Duration: 9 minutes, 52 seconds. Founders of the organization. Oru Kayak is a San Francisco based startup that manufactures high-performance, folding kayaks. A: About 25. I’m Michelle, founder of this little slice of the universe. The Delphin had a bamboo frame with a sailcloth hull stretched over it. But my go-to these days from the Bay Area is Tomales Bay, which is about an hour north of San Francisco. It's refreshing to see how real founders grow their business. Oru Kayaks are now spotted regularly around the San Francisco Bay–as well as much farther-flung waters, from Norway to the Andaman Islands. In 2008, a move into a small San Francisco apartment forced his fiberglass kayak into storage. Photo by Oru via Facebook. The event is open to the public and attendees will be able to test paddle the Oru Kayak. Beyond the functionality of its engineering, the Oru Kayak stands apart from the competition for its superb on the water performance, durability, easy assembly, and stylish design. The first workable folding kayak was built by Alfred Heurich in 1905, a German architectural student. That’s why, shortly after reading that article in The New Yorker, Willis started making kayaks out of folded paper. It has a padded foam seat and can support up to 300 pounds. After earning an MBA in Design Strategy from California College of the Arts in 2012, Ardy helped launched Oru Kayak via Kickstarter with his two co-founders. Q: How many iterations did you go through before the first consumer-ready kayak was done? Q: Do you have a favorite spot to paddle? Founder Pravda Capital ... Investor and a director of Oru Kayak. Photo by Oru via Facebook. He decided on the latter. I’m Anton Willis of Oru Kayak. Oru. Oru’s Beach LT kayak. I grew up in the rural backwoods of Northern California. After he designed a prototype, he got $500,000 in funding from Kickstarter in 2012. Founded over ten years, Oru is a brick-and-mortar brand that offers the most durable and high-performing folding kayaks for beginners to advanced kayakers. The piece profiled Dr. Robert J. Lang, a physicist who became obsessed with the art of origami and eventually quit his fiber optics job in order to pursue it full time. Soon he was confronted with a choice: leave the folding kayak as a side project or admit he was becoming a businessman and attempt to bring the boat to market. We make origami kayaks that fold up into a portable box. Best Folding Kayak Brands Oru. Willis, the developer of Oru, the Origami Kayak, first came up with the idea for a collapsible kayak after moving into a small apartment in San Francisco, where he had to put his standard kayak in storage after each trip out on the water. The Oru Kayak. However, to achieve the specifications of the Inlet, Anton Willis, Founder + CDO, spent 2yrs inventing an entirely new origami folding pattern that prioritizes spatial efficiency and elimination of floating parts. That took a complete re-engineering of all the box folds. Date the Organization was founded. Willis was leafing through the pages of The New Yorker five years later and came across an interesting article. ", How We Started A $400K/Month Origami Folding Kayaks Business. Our revenues are around $5 million per year. Oru Kayak In 2012, Anton Willis launched a Kickstarter campaign that would change the way he did business and the way people think about kayaking. Oru kayaks are easy to transport and store, letting you explore like never before. The Bay Oru Kayak folds up into a self-containing 33″ x 12″ x 29″ box, so the fact there was a kayak in there was pretty amazing. Postal Service tote boxes (Oru kayaks are still made from a similar material). The inventor and founder of Oru Kayak, Anton Willis, had a fascination with origami, the Japanese art of folding paper into three dimensional shapes and figures. Oru Founder Anton Willis came up with the idea after moving to San Francisco and realising his apartment was too small to fit his kayak. Whether an Organization is for profit or non-profit. ### What’s your backstory and how did you come up with the idea? Manufacturer of origami kayaks intended to change how people connect with the water. He brought subsequent prototypes to barbecues where friends took turns paddling around (one of these acquaintances asked if the boats were for sale and later became one of Oru’s first backers on Kickstarter). I’m Anton Willis of Oru Kayak. The Oru Kayak Beach LT also has an adjustable footrest, backrest, and carrying handles for easy maneuverability. This year has been something. Heurich paddled his creation on the Isar River near Munich and took out a patent on the design, called the Delphin (German: Dolphin), the following year. In the fall of 2012, I wrote about a new product I had designed, and the company I founded to produce it. Designer and Oru Kayak founder Anton Willis grew up in rural Mendocino County, with easy access to rivers, lakes, and the ocean. I believe in this great product and the mission of the company which is: "Transform the way people enjoy outdoors". Putting the Oru folding kayak together the first time was a bit of a learning curve. ### What’s your backstory and how did you come up with the idea? ### What’s your backstory and how did you come up with the idea? Paddling solved that problem, but only until San Francisco rent prices forced him to move into a studio apartment — an ill-suited home for a sixteen-foot kayak. For me, it was originally about being able to store a kayak in my apartment closet. Gear Patrol participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Every product is carefully selected by our editors. That was a really exciting idea, but figuring out how to go from one to the other took a lot of doing. “The first kayak was made out of one sheet duct taped together and I took it down to the Berkeley Marina, got in, made a few paddle strokes and sunk after about 30 seconds.”. Anton Willis Founder, Chief Design Officer at Oru Kayak San Francisco Bay Area 253 connections We caught Willis in a rare moment of free time and chatted about the challenges he faced and the insights he gained while creating the folding vessel that’s redefined paddling. The early prototypes just kind of folded up into this crazy bundle of loose plastic. I had this idea in my head and took a business card out of my wallet and folded it up, and that’s how the ends still work. Oru Kayak started when designer and founder Anton Willis had to put his fiberglass kayak into storage. May 18, 2017. Company founder Anton Willis described Vancouver as the ideal environment for the Oru Kayak. Before the launch of the Inlet, Oru kayaks were iterations of an original folding pattern that Willis had developed when Oru launched in 2012. The earlier kayaks were more like accordions, and now there’s this more complex motion where the whole thing kind of snaps together. 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