Start-ups in Focus

Busto automatika: Smart house integrator

Interview with Kęstutis Morkūnas, PhD., Business development officer

01/09/2022

How and, above all, where do we want to age? Preferably within our own four walls, surrounded by our loved ones. How can technology help us feel safe in the process? Busto Automatika specializes in smart home applications and provides advice and technology not only to family members.

Business Development Officer Kęstutis Morkūnas tells us how an idea developed from a personal experience into a company. And in our interview, you can also find out why setting up a business in this area is quite expensive.

Busto automatika

Founded in: 2013

Location: Kaunas, Lithuania

Website & Social Media channels

Image: A man in a suit stands sideways to the camera with his arms folded and smiles into it - Kestutis Morkunas; Copyright: Busto automatika

Kęstutis Morkūnas

Where does the idee for your product come from?

Kęstutis Morkūnas: Personal need to monitor elderly family members' well-being and health at home.

What problem do you want to address with it?

Morkūnas: The difficulty to effectively monitor the health and well-being of people in need of care at their own home 24/7.

At which stage in your development are you now?

Morkūnas: Product is in pilot test phase with local (Lithuanian) hospitals and home care agencies.

What was the biggest obstacle during the foundation of your company?

Morkūnas: Sufficient market need validation for the product.

What were you worried about most before founding the company?

Morkūnas: We outsourced bits of R&D to a local university. Most worries came if the university will deliver quality results and in time.

What was your best decision until now?

Morkūnas: Forming a strong team with backgrounds in hardware and software development, business development and company management.

How do you assess the opportunities for start-ups in the medical market in your country?

Morkūnas: There are opportunities and some governmental support. Yet it is very challenging at this point, due to the scope and cost of challenges – hardware R&D, prototyping and small scale manufacturing, certification, patenting, GDPR, etc.