RYSE: From Apartment Problem to $11.2M Community Raise

In 2015, Trung Pham moved into a new apartment in downtown Toronto. Like any tech-savvy homeowner, he wanted to automate his window shades. There was just one problem: the solution he needed didn't exist.

He had just spent a fortune on new furniture and roller shades. When the summer heat became unbearable, he went back to his dealer looking for a simple add-on to motorize what he already owned. What he thought would be a quick Google search led to a dead end. Once you have manual window shades installed, there was no way to make them smart without ripping everything out and starting over.

That's when Trung had his "eureka moment." He wasn't just solving his own problem. He was staring at a gap in a $158 billion market growing at 23% annually.

"I thought I'd find a simple retrofit solution in about five minutes. When I realized nobody had built one, I knew I had to do it myself. That frustration became the foundation for everything RYSE would become."

— Trung Pham, Founder & CEO

What makes Trung's story remarkable isn't just the idea. It's that he's a solo, non-technical founder with a finance background (he passed all three CFA exams) who decided to build a hardware company from scratch. No engineering degree. No Silicon Valley connections. Just a clear vision and the determination to keep moving forward, one step at a time.

Ten years later, RYSE has shipped over 80,000 devices, generated $15M+ in lifetime revenue, earned 10 patents, won the Red Dot Design Award, and secured shelf space in 100+ Best Buy locations. And when it came time to scale for the final push to public markets, Trung didn't go hat in hand to venture capitalists who would demand control. He turned to the 3,229 investors who believed in his vision from the beginning.

Building Credibility, One Milestone at a Time

RYSE didn't become an overnight success. It became a 15-year success, and the journey included every milestone that separates real hardware companies from vaporware.

But what really validated RYSE wasn't just the awards. It was the customers who kept coming back, the retail partners who expanded their orders, and the investors who participated in offering after offering because they saw the trajectory.

Notable Believers

RYSE's investor base includes names that know how to build and exit consumer hardware companies:

When investors who have personally built nine-figure exits decide to back your company, it sends a signal that sophisticated capital sees the same opportunity retail investors do.

The Challenge: Scaling Hardware Without Losing Control

After 15 years of bootstrapping, RYSE faced the classic hardware founder's dilemma: how do you scale manufacturing, expand retail distribution, and build brand awareness without handing over control to investors who don't understand the long game?

Traditional venture capital wanted explosive growth and quick exits. Private equity wanted control. And Trung had seen too many hardware founders lose their companies to investors who prioritized short-term returns over product quality.

"Hardware is a marathon, not a sprint. I needed investors who understood that building a category-defining brand takes years, not quarters. The people who use our products every day were the perfect partners for that journey."

— Trung Pham on choosing community capital

Community capital wasn't just a funding strategy. It was an alignment strategy. RYSE's investors would be the same people who benefited from smart home technology, who understood why the category was growing, and who would become ambassadors for the brand.

The DealMaker Advantage: Building a Forever Fundraising Engine

RYSE chose DealMaker because they needed more than a one-time raise. They needed infrastructure for continuous capital formation that could scale alongside their retail expansion, and a platform sophisticated enough to handle multiple offerings at escalating valuations.

The Results: $11.2M and a Community That Compounds

Through DealMaker, RYSE raised over $11.2 million from 3,229 investors across 11 offerings, demonstrating the power of continuous community capital formation.

Each offering gave new investors the chance to participate while rewarding early believers who saw the vision first. This is the "forever fundraising engine" in action: a community that grows stronger and more valuable with every raise.

"Our vision is to own the smart shades space. We want RYSE to be synonymous with smart shades, just like Nest is to the thermostat, Ring is to the doorbell, or Dyson is to the vacuum. Our investors aren't just funding that vision. They're building it with us."

— Trung Pham, Founder & CEO

From Dragons' Den to Best Buy: The Retail Validation Story

RYSE's path to retail dominance started with a nationally televised pitch on Dragons' Den, Canada's version of Shark Tank. That exposure validated the concept and opened doors that would have taken years to unlock otherwise.

Today, RYSE products sit on shelves in:

The Retail Flywheel

What makes RYSE's retail presence so powerful for investors is the flywheel it creates:

RYSE's 3,229 investors aren't just capital sources. They're potential customers who will see RYSE products at Best Buy and remember they own a piece of the company. That alignment between investor and customer creates loyalty that traditional funding can't buy.

The $158 Billion Opportunity

RYSE isn't just building a company. They're building a category. The smart home market represents a $158 billion opportunity growing at 23% annually, and smart shades remain one of the last untapped segments.

The Retrofit Advantage

Most smart shade solutions require ripping out existing window coverings. RYSE's retrofit approach means homeowners and building managers can automate what they already have in minutes, not hours. This dramatically expands the addressable market to anyone with existing shades, not just new construction.

The Path to Public Markets

With Nasdaq ticker $RYSS already secured, RYSE is positioned for the transition from community-backed private company to potential publicly traded smart home leader.

"Securing the Nasdaq ticker signals that we are building for long-term outcomes. The investors who believed in us early deserve to participate in whatever path creates the most value, and our responsibility is to pursue the best possible outcome, whether through a public listing or a strategic acquisition."

— Trung Pham on the path to Nasdaq

The Formula for Hardware Success

RYSE's journey reveals patterns that other ambitious hardware founders can learn from: