Modeo is the easiest way to create custom furniture, from your place wherever you are, just from your mobile device. Furniture that you can modify and upgrade anytime as much as you want. It’s based on an app, where you can design what you have in mind using drag and drop. Then you can view what you’re designing in augmented reality. Once you like it you can order the parts that will be shipped for you to assemble. The parts are modular. They are available in multiple colors and materials, and they snap together very easily, without any tools, or any professional experience to create furniture around the house or office. The parts are also easy to reassemble in new configurations. Modeo is also available in pre-defined kits of different sizes and prices that you can use as a start.
We talked to the Modeo team about the impact of the support received through their participation in the WEEL Project, funded by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France.
Growth and Impact
“After going through the difficult Lebanese crisis, topped with the COVID pandemic, we had to pause the business for a while. After we resumed, it was obvious we needed some support. Thankfully WEEL was a good opportunity for us, with the support provided our operations will be back on track. The support helped us move from production-on-demand to batch production, and switch from using imported metal as raw material to locally sourced recycled plastics making Modeo cheaper, lighter in weight, and produced in batches for faster delivery, making the business more profitable and ready to scale.
The European Union support through WEEL helped us improve the manufacturing process and move from producing on-demand to producing in batches. The project funded the molds and machines needed to move from slow 3D Printing of the mechanical parts to fast production and unlocked our ability to collaborate with Plastc Lab to produce the parts made from recycled plastics fast and handle large volume production. The new version is planned to be released in March 2023 with our new website and updated app. The growth resulting from this upgrade will also help us grow our team, improve the quality and speed of the product, open new sales opportunities, become ready for exporting abroad, and make the business ready for series A investment for growth.
Modeo has global potential, so our goal is to make it go there, but we need to go step by step, once we reach our next milestone, we will need to raise a series A funding to start growing outside the country by entering new markets, hopefully helping in the recovery of Lebanon, by transforming its plastic trash into a furniture solution that can revolutionize the whole industry worldwide!”
About WEEL
WEEL is part of a larger programme, the EU for Women Empowerment (EU4WE), a 42-month programme (October 2019 – March 2023) funded by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France. It aims at promoting full and unconditional equality between men and women in Lebanon. The specific purpose of EU4WE is to reduce gender-based violence through women’s empowerment and enhance existing institutional mechanisms working towards gender equality.