PLAEX, we did a lot of customer discovery and we surveyed a lot of potential customers,” Dustin explains. “What we found is there is a gaping hole in the market for sustainable landscaping products. The majority of what’s on the market is either wood – which rots away quite quickly – or concrete or clay bricks – both of which also have weathering issues and water absorption issues.” “Whereas we have a material that’s more impact resistant, it has a longer life span, it’s easier to put together, and it’s cost-comparable to traditional building systems,” he reiterates. “On launch, we’re a valueadded product. We’re not the cheapest product you’re going to find, but we’re going to give you the biggest ROI. We’re going to reduce the time you spend building the product, we’re going to reduce the maintenance you have to do on it, and our product is going to last way longer than any of the other products. Plus, when it’s done, if you decide you want to change something, our product is going to be way easier to take apart and modify.” Next year, once the company’s production line is fully operational, the plan is to open their Series A – which Dustin says will be “a very large round of funding by East Coast standards.” That will allow them to scale up properly, at which point their goal is to start working internationally. “We’re going to be pushing into developing countries,” Dustin says. “We want to deploy our technology to the places that need it most.” PLAEX is already on the path to B Corp Certification, Dustin adds – and he says those international efforts should help with that. “We want to create a lot of impact,” he concludes. “We want to continue innovating, developing and bringing in new products that can make a difference. We want to license our paneling system to other companies. We want to license other company’s technologies and become more automated. We want to keep expanding, we want to reduce as much waste as we possibly can, and we want to keep pushing the industry and the planet towards a sustainable future.” OCTOBER 2023
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