Startup Spotlight #141: Terra
Terra is an API that makes it easy for developers to access fitness and health data from devices and sensors.
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I got the chance to speak with Kyriakos Eleftheriou, co-founder and CEO of Terra , about what he’s working on at his startup, and any advice he has for emerging entrepreneurs.
While serving in the special forces as a commando, Eleftheriou was using every available fitness sensor to increase his performance and be able to perform at the highest level. Naturally, he started using the early Polar HRM sensors, the Pebble devices, and everything available during these days. Over time, he realized that his data were sitting inside of these companies' silos, and he couldn’t access them since he was using other apps. After that period, Eleftheriou studied engineering and started developing his own sensors. He could spot that problem again and again. That’s how Terra really started. Terra is an API that makes it easy for developers to access fitness and health data, from devices and sensors and we are funded by Y-Combinator.
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Startup Spotlight: Terra
Problem: Data from wearables and sensors are sitting in silos in companies such as Fitbit, Polar, Garmin, and Apple.
Market: The total market is estimated to be $15b. There are 500M active wearable users using a fitness app.
Solution: Terra is an API that makes it easy for developers to access fitness and health data from wearables and sensors.
Team: My cofounder Raouf is an engineer, a gold medallist swimmer, and a 2x founder. We met 5 years ago while studying together at Imperial College London.
Recent Success:
Eleftheriou: Persistence. I started pitching Terra to investors from Cyprus to Greece, to the UK, to Singapore, to France and received more than 150 rejections. That's when I realized that the only destination in the world that people ‘get it’ is Silicon Valley, and I thus moved there. After so many rejections, in the end, Terra was admitted to Y Combinator and raised funding from General Catalyst and others.
Recent Struggle:
Eleftheriou: Hiring. The goal is always to build the best team in the world. The special forces of the startup world. As such, we are interviewing hundreds of candidates to find the best ones, and it takes considerable time (around 50% of my time). And then we need to build the culture of the best team in the world. It’s always difficult, but there is always meaning in the struggle.
Founder Advice:
Eleftheriou: Entrepreneurship is uncertainty. In the world of uncertainty, the only certainty is you are going to make mistakes. Hence, your best bet is to learn how to be the fastest learner in the world. Think about things thoroughly, and don't rely on norms. Focus on real value add, and everything else will follow.
Three Cool Founders You Should Know About:
Eleftheriou: Here are three founders you should check out next!
Stefan van der Fluit, Founder of Flow Bio: Flow Bio is the world’s first real-time hydration sensor.
Ali Jiwani, Founder of Rally.video (YC S20): Rally.video is a platform that helps you host incredible happy hours online.
Rithvik Seela, Founder of Gradia Health (YC W21): Gradia health helps clinics improve outcomes by sending their patients personalized information and reminders.
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