NYA FOUNDER SPOTLIGHT ‒ ANYA FREEMAN, KIND DESIGNS CEO & CO-FOUNDER

By 2040, 50,000 miles of marine habitat will be destroyed. Anya Freeman, CEO and Co-Founder Kind Designs, is committed to change that trajectory by transforming infrastructure into artificial reefs that both restore marine ecosystems and protect vulnerable coastal communities. Read about Anya’s perspectives on the importance of strategic investors, how the best investors understand the problem firsthand, and why female unicorn founders should become normalized.

How did you decide to become an entrepreneur?

I am originally from Ukraine, but I grew up in Israel.  I then came to the U.S. as a teenager because my dad accepted a job with the space program. We moved to Kennebunkport, Maine, not speaking any English, not knowing anything about the culture, but feeling extremely excited to become U.S. citizens and really wanting to make the most of that opportunity.

My parents wanted me to become a lawyer, so I moved to Miami for a law school scholarship.  After graduating and owning my own law firm, I realized I had a bigger calling.  I started to notice that my community had a big problem with flooding. Year over year, the flooding was more frequent, and the storm surges were more intense. Nobody had any solutions, so I left my legal career and started Kind Designs to find that solution for my community.

What inspired the idea behind Kind Designs?

As we were exploring how to best protect our coastal community, we knew we wanted to: 1)  develop a highly affordable solution that can be scaled across every at-risk coastal city, and 2) build something that was awesome for the ocean.  I brought in my COO, Jeremy Morris, who was employee #7 at The Boring Company with Elon and later worked with ICON 3D printing houses. Together, Jeremey and I studied seawalls, the first line of defense against flooding, and realized they have never been innovated.

The first seawall in the U.S. was installed in 1905, and it is essentially the same design used today. They are expensive, cost prohibitive for many communities, and they destroy marine habitats. Because they are flat, nothing can attach to them, so sea life migrates. Between now and 2040, we will destroy 50,000 miles of marine habitat.

So we asked, what if the seawall was a marine habitat? How do we combine infrastructure and artificial reef science? That is how we came up with the idea of 3D printing living seawalls.

How did you first meet New York Angels?

All of our investors are very strategic. About half of our cap table has government relationships and half has construction relationships. One of our early lead investors was Govo Venture Partners, which invests in Florida companies with regulatory or government contract opportunities. They provide lobbying support and introduced us to New York Angels as we looked to expand outside of Florida and into the New York market.

When you were fundraising, what were you looking for in investors?

We were lucky. Both rounds were oversubscribed, so we were able to choose our investors. Every investor we brought in is strategic so they can either put us in their plans, open doors, or help us pass legislation. We have helped advance legislation that incentivizes living seawalls, much of it supported through the involvement and advocacy of our investors.

What have you enjoyed most about working with New York Angels?

Many NYA Members understand the regulatory framework and have construction and government relationships. To be honest, we have not activated them fully yet because we only have one project so far in New York. As we expand further into New York, we will be relying on NYA Members much more.

What advice would you give other founders who are fundraising?

Figure out what a strategic investor really means to you. Focus on people who deeply understand the problem you are solving and who have strong relationships with the people who can help you get there.

From a founder’s perspective, what makes a great early-stage investor?

I have been lucky to have had a very positive experience with our investors. It is especially valuable when investors can physically come to our factory, see the robots in action, see the seawalls going into the water, and understand the problem firsthand. Investors who live in coastal cities and have personal experience with flooding or paying for seawalls immediately understand what we are solving. If an investor asks me what a seawall is, the conversation is probably not going to go very far.

What has driven Kind Design’s success?

Our culture. We are a very small, very lean, elite team of world class people. What unites us is an obsession with transforming infrastructure into artificial reefs and protecting coastal communities. We are working toward something much bigger than ourselves.

It is also a pure meritocracy. This is physically demanding work. The team works in 100 degree heat, lifting 50 pounds every 30 seconds to keep the robots running. We hire people with real concrete experience who are willing to work extremely hard and thrive in big challenges. They are literally the first in the world to 3D print seawalls. Not everyone can handle these conditions, but the people who can truly thrive here.

What’s something interesting about your that might surprise founders or investors?

In a previous life, I was a professional snowboarder and snowboard instructor. I used to go out with Olympian Shaun White, which surprises people.

What motivates you as a founder?

First, to give back to this country that gave my family an opportunity that is almost unthinkable for many of my friends and family still in Ukraine. Making a meaningful contribution to the United States and to my community is very important to me.

Second, I want to become the first female unicorn founder in Miami. There are fewer than 20 female unicorns globally. I want to help normalize that.

Third, I want to change the identity of Miami. I want people to see that you can build something meaningful and massive here that attracts international talent and investors and transforms an entire field.

Finally, and importantly to our company, I want to the success of my team as individuals. They are all doing extremely difficult work, e.g., strenuous physical work, brilliant research and development, time-intensive grant writing.  I want this opportunity with Kind Desings to open doors for them and give them financial freedom for the rest of their lives.