# #065 - How to care about sustainability to get rid of plastic bottles (and still make a profit), with Moritz Waldstein of Mitte, Germany

- Show: [The Hardware Entrepreneur](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur)
- Published: 2018-12-19
- Length: 34m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2018-12-19-065-how-to-care-about-sustainability-to-get-rid-of-plastic-bottles-and-still-mak
- Listen: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/thehardwareentrepreneur/065_-_How_to_care_about_sustainability_to_get_rid_of_plastic_bottles_and_still_make_a_profit_with_Moritz_Waldstein_of_Mitte_Germany.mp3

## Summary

Moritz Waldstein-Wartenberg, co-founder of Mitte, explains how his company replaces plastic bottled water with a home purification system that adds essential minerals to distilled water. He details the company's journey from a Berlin fab lab to a €10.6 million funding round, highlighting the strategic use of Kickstarter and Indiegogo to validate demand and attract investors like Manifesto Ventures and Kärcher. Waldstein also discusses the technical innovation of using heat-pump distillation to mimic nature's mineralization process and the organizational shift to agile 'work streams' to manage multidisciplinary hardware development.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2018-12-19-065-how-to-care-about-sustainability-to-get-rid-of-plastic-bottles-and-still-mak#t=0) Introduction: Moritz Waldstein-Wartenberg and Mitte
- [4:28](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2018-12-19-065-how-to-care-about-sustainability-to-get-rid-of-plastic-bottles-and-still-mak#t=268) The Market Gap: Purification vs. Healthy Hydration
- [8:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2018-12-19-065-how-to-care-about-sustainability-to-get-rid-of-plastic-bottles-and-still-mak#t=502) Crowdfunding Strategy: Kickstarter and Indiegogo Success
- [16:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2018-12-19-065-how-to-care-about-sustainability-to-get-rid-of-plastic-bottles-and-still-mak#t=969) Investor Relations: Manifesto Ventures and Kärcher
- [19:28](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2018-12-19-065-how-to-care-about-sustainability-to-get-rid-of-plastic-bottles-and-still-mak#t=1168) Technology: Heat-Pump Distillation and Mineralization
- [23:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2018-12-19-065-how-to-care-about-sustainability-to-get-rid-of-plastic-bottles-and-still-mak#t=1397) Organizational Change: Agile Transformation and Work Streams
- [26:59](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2018-12-19-065-how-to-care-about-sustainability-to-get-rid-of-plastic-bottles-and-still-mak#t=1619) Founder Advice: Testing Ideas and Managing Diversity

## Topics

- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Materials & manufacturing processes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/materials-and-processes)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Sustainability & circular products](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sustainability-and-circularity)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Mitte (company)
- Kickstarter (other)
- Indiegogo (other)
- Manifesto Ventures (company)
- Kärcher (company)
- Hardware Club (other)
- The Alliance (other)
- LinkedIn (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [S'well: Sarah Kauss](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-04-06-swell-sarah-kauss) (How I Built This)
- [Hydro Flask: Travis Rosbach. How a thirsty surfer changed the water bottle industry](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-11-24-hydro-flask-travis-rosbach-how-a-thirsty-surfer-changed-the-water-bottle-industr) (How I Built This)
- [Building the Rails to Eliminate Single-Use Plastic Water Bottles with Manuela Zoninsein, CEO and Founder at Kadeya](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2023-04-27-building-the-rails-to-eliminate-single-use-plastic-water-bottles-with-manuela-zo) (Hardware to Save a Planet)
- [48 - Aimy Steadman, Co Founder and CGSDO at Future Proof](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/people-of-packaging/2021-02-02-48-aimy-steadman-co-founder-and-cgsdo-at-future-proof) (People of Packaging)
- [Taming the Dragons whilst Saving the Planet](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/its-only-a-prototype/2025-05-01-taming-the-dragons-whilst-saving-the-planet) (It's Only a Prototype)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2018-12-19-065-how-to-care-about-sustainability-to-get-rid-of-plastic-bottles-and-still-mak. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Hardware Entrepreneur.