Newsletter #10 - January 2023
Happy New Year!
2022 was a banner year for LeapFrog Design and 2023 promises to be even bigger. One more time around the sun, our company matures and grows, along with our team. When I take stock of all the passionate and skilled work of this team and the successes it has led to over the last 12 months — the rapid sophistication in outreach, the launch of our MVP, our first sales, multiple SBIR grants, doubling our team, and expanding our product line — I am honored to be part of this company. It can be hard to take a stand for partnership and collaboration in a world dominated by a competition mindset. I feel so fortunate to be in a position where I can work on collaborative projects every day with this outstanding team. And with the winter solstice behind us and each new day offering a few more moments of light, I’ve got my eye on the horizon, anticipating all that is to come.
The natural systems of this world and our solar system are intractable. With each new violent storm or sweltering drought, we are reminded of our immersion in something wild and much bigger than us, the earth’s ecosystems. But there is a glorious opportunity to work with and within these natural systems — the water cycle, the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, the biological process of photosynthesis — capturing carbon and transforming sunlight into beautiful flowers and tasty fruit. At LeapFrog, we have the pleasure to work with plants every day, and their incredible symbiotic relationships with the microbes and fungi they live with never cease to inspire and amaze us. I look forward to sharing our story of growth and abundance with you throughout the coming year and hope that it helps inspire you to find the places you can collaborate, partner, and connect with our planet and its incredible flows and processes.
— Adam
We’re excited to share that we are currently scheduling installations in Oregon & California, with one site already in progress. If you’re on our waitlist you should be hearing from us soon about scheduling a discovery call to get your project started. Thanks for your patience, we can’t wait to get you set up with plant-powered water savings and greywater reuse!
If you’re not on our waitlist yet, join here!
Our demonstration projects in Oregon are all performing beautifully! As winter has set in, the systems are performing just as we expected them to — plants and microbes busily working together to clean water for reuse, even in subfreezing temperatures.
This is the achievement we’re most excited about… Third-party tested treatment results show LeapFrog's water reuse system is beating all treatment standards, reducing turbidity, BOD, and E. Coli contamination to undetectable levels. All measured parameters are at drinking water quality!
We have partnered with Cal Poly Pomona on their submission to the Sustainability Decathlon.
The Orange County Sustainability Decathlon challenges university teams to design and build model solar-powered homes that address climate change and California’s housing needs. These innovative, market-ready model homes will be displayed in a sustainable village which will be open to the public. Cal Poly Pomona’s home will feature a LeapFrog water reuse system as part of its design. We’re thrilled to work with this team and excited to see all of the innovative home designs at the Decathlon!
The Sustainability Decathlon will take place October 5-15, 2023, at the Orange County Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, CA.
We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded an EPA SBIR Phase I grant to adapt our technology for septic reuse!
There are millions of failing septic systems across the country (particularly on the east coast) that are polluting waterways and spreading disease. Replacing an entire septic system is too expensive for most families, especially in low-income communities that are affected most. Our technology has the potential to be a low-cost, plug-and-play solution that protects human health and the environment.
We’re excited to bring our nature-based technology to bear on another part of the water cycle.
Our product has launched and we have a ballooning sales pipeline. We are preparing to rapidly scale up production. In order to fund this growth, we are opening a small investment round. If you would like more information about joining the round, please email Adam directly at adam.deheer@leapfrog.design.
Each year, Pitch Oregon brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and mentors, showcasing talent and innovation from across the country and creating a collaborative and dynamic environment for launching startups on their growth journeys. We’re pleased to announce that we have been chosen as a finalist for this year’s Pitch Oregon! Join us at Pitch Oregon on February 9th — click here to register.
