When speaking to people, almost everyone will ask, “why Kara, what does Kara mean?”

               The meaning behind “Kara” in Kara Water is a fascinating story that is tied to The Story of Kara Water. In our first blog post, we told the story of how Kara Water came to be and mentioned that it all started when Cody, our CEO had learned about the Namibian Desert Beetle and how it could turn air into drinking water. The discovery of the Namibian Desert Beetle was documented in a Ted Talk by an English architect named Michael Pawlyn. In this TED talk Mr. Pawlyn speaks about the science of Biomimicry, the study of nature and replicating its function. I.e. a solar panel resembles the process of photosynthesis performed by plants. The primary piece of information that Mr. Pawlyn was to conveying during his TED Talk was a concept called a “factor 10,000(x),” referring to a technology developed by nature itself that can be replicated by humans to increase its efficiency or output by a factor of 10,000(x).

(Diagram of the micro-structure of the Namibian Desert Beetle's shell)

               When speaking about the Namibian Desert Beetle, it was hypothesized that through the science of Biomimicry, it’s ability to turn air into water could be scaled to produce potable water at a factor of 10,000(x). If this tiny beetle, no larger than a small pebble, using nothing more than the shell on it’s back, could produce enough water to consume 30% of it’s body weight in the driest desert in the world could perform this natural phenomenon, just imagine what we could do if we replicated the structure of the beetle’s shell and improved it.

               This is exactly what we did at Kara Water, but we will speak more about the technology in a future blog.

               After learning about this and beginning the journey to develop the technology, it wasn’t until years later that the name Kara Water came into existence. The common name for a product like our is an “atmospheric water generator” and we strongly disliked this term, so we coined the term “air-to-water dispenser.” Yet, as a good descriptor, this term was still not the right name for a game-changing product.

               The realization happened during a dinner one night while Cody was still practicing architecture in London. Cody was discussing what the name of the company should be, and after telling the story of the TED Talk by Michael Pawlyn and how it inspired the creation of what is now Kara Pure, one person shouted out, “your inspiration didn’t come from Michael Pawlyn, it came from the beetle, you should name it after the beetle!” Of course, this thought had already crossed Cody’s mind, but Namibian Water or Beetle Water doesn’t quite sound so appealing. But the statement made that the true inspiration comes from the beetle resonated with him so he revisited the idea of Beetle Water, or something related to it.

             While doing more research, the final name had actually been right in front of him the whole time. Every time he searched “Namibian desert beetle” another name appeared right next to it, but it never really stood out until now. The scientific name of the Namibian Desert Beetle is “Stenocara Gracilipes.” Cara or Kara, is derived from the beetles scientific name. If you also look closely, you’ll notice that the Kara logo is also the outline of the beetle’s shell, paying true tribute to the inspiration behind Kara Water.

(Inspiration of the Kara Water logo)

Love this story? Leave a comment below!