From an idea to sustainable dental care: the story of how Kiyo was founded

The journey from the initial idea to a market-ready product is rarely straightforward – particularly in a competitive market such as dental care. Kiyo is an example of how a simple everyday question can give rise to an innovative start-up. In this interview, the founders share insights into their motivation, the challenges of the early stages, and the key lessons they’ve learnt along the way. You’ll discover how Kiyo was funded, the hurdles they had to overcome, and the company’s vision for the future.

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1. How did the idea for Kiyo come about – and what specific problem were you aiming to solve?

The idea for Kiyo arose from a simple but crucial question: what do we actually use to brush our teeth every day? As we looked more closely at dental care, we quickly realised how little we really knew about the products we use several times a day. At the same time, we noticed that traditional dental care is often unnecessarily complicated – involving lots of water, plastic packaging and ingredients that many consumers struggle to understand. Our aim was therefore to rethink dental care: effective, suitable for everyday use and free from unnecessary additives. That’s how Kiyo came about.

2. How did you go about setting up the business in practical terms – what were your first steps?

To begin with, we invested 20,000 Swiss francs from our savings into setting up a limited liability company (GmbH). With this start-up capital, we were able to develop our first product in collaboration with a Swiss development firm specialising in dental care: the Kiyo Toothpaste Tabs. Because it was clear to us from the outset that the product had to be not only natural but, above all, effective, the development took around two years. To finance the first production run, we subsequently launched a crowdfunding campaign via Wemakeit, which was successful and enabled us to enter the market.

3. How did you finance Kiyo – and what would you do differently today when it comes to financing?

In the early stages, we were entirely self-funded. After around a year of market testing, it became clear to us that our business case would only work in the long term if we expanded our range in a targeted manner. To be able to develop and produce further products, we carried out an initial small funding round with family and friends. At the end of 2025, this was followed by another round with a business angel to further accelerate growth – particularly in the areas of product development and marketing. Looking back, we made good decisions regarding financing and wouldn’t do anything fundamentally differently today.

4. What was your biggest challenge in the early stages – and how did you overcome it?

One of the biggest challenges right at the start was product development. It took two years for our toothpaste tabs to meet our standards and be truly ready for the market. Then came the next hurdle: the formula had to be converted into a stable, producible tablet form. At the same time, we entered the market without much e-commerce experience and made plenty of mistakes along the way. We overcame this primarily through perseverance, a strong willingness to learn, and the determination to improve with every mistake.

5. What are the three most important lessons you would pass on to other founders?

1. It’s not the idea that matters, but the execution. Many ideas sound good – what matters is who actually implements them consistently over the long term.
2. Perseverance is key. Especially in the early stages, things almost never go to plan, and it is often precisely this perseverance that separates those who carry on from those who give up.
3. Talk to real customers early on. You yourself may not be the target audience, and honest feedback from the market is usually more valuable than any assumptions made in isolation. A good product isn’t born of perfectionism, but of testing, learning and improving.

6. Where do you see Kiyo in five years – and what vision drives you?

Our vision is to develop the best dental care. Dental care that not only works, but makes the daily routine more pleasant and better. Brushing your teeth shouldn’t just be a chore, but something that feels good and makes a difference in everyday life. At the same time, with Kiyo we want to help make it easier to maintain healthy teeth in the long term, and thus also make visits to the dentist or dental hygienist more pleasant. Furthermore, with our plastic-free products and our involvement with Buy Food with Plastic, we aim to continue making an environmental and social impact in the future.

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