We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Serena Allen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Serena, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

AirVitalize actually didn’t start with a specific idea—it started with a lot of questions. I spent months literally walking up to folks and asking, “What’s your biggest problem?” It was a kind of “exploration phase.” As we dug deeper and deeper into problems people faced, we eventually came across particulate matter air pollution.

What stood out to me was how inequitable air pollution is. It disproportionately affects low-income communities and people of color. The pollution is often caused by things beyond people’s control. For example, freeways running through poor neighborhoods or people burning wood to heat their homes because electricity costs are high.

Since the 1970s air pollution in the U.S. has exponentially decreased – but in the past few years pollution is actually increasing. That was a wake-up call for me. It hit me that we hadn’t seen much innovation in this space since the catalytic converter was invented, and now growing pollution requires more innovation.

The more I dug into it, the more I realized how urgent this issue is—and how much more innovation was needed. We’re seeing extreme environmental degradation and a rise in health problems, but the solutions that exist just aren’t enough. There’s so much focus on long-term policies, which are important, but we also need to address the immediate, localized impacts of air pollution too. I want to live in a world where I can take my family to a park or a public space in my community, and the air is healthy. Right now, that’s just not the reality in places like downtown LA.

So, we started brainstorming solutions. Over a year and a half, that evolved into AirVitalize where we create technology that improves outdoor air quality in specific, high-need spaces.

We’ve stayed focused on the problem, not just a solution. That’s been key. The problem is so massive that someone needs to solve it—and I believe we’re part of that solution.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

AirVitalize engineers hardware that cleans outdoor air. We focus on areas with specific atmospheric conditions called temperature inversions, where air pollution gets trapped in a defined space. Currently we’re co-located in Fairbanks, Alaska and Los Angeles, California — two of the most polluted regions in the nation.

At AirVitalize we fundamentally believe everyone has the right to breathe healthy air at a location near them. In Fairbanks we’re working with government to improve public health and the environment, and in Los Angeles with sports teams to provide healthier outdoor training areas.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Sure! As the founder of a tech company focused on improving outdoor air quality, I had a significant pivot early on in my journey. I graduated from the University of Southern California with the highest honors, but I decided to move back into my parent’s home instead of taking a high-paying job. I really wanted to work on something that felt meaningful, so I turned an idea from my last year in University into what is now my company AirVitalize: where we clean outdoor air.

Initially, we faced challenges in finding product-market fit. Our technology had clear potential, but we soon realized it wasn’t hitting the mark with customers and could be significantly hindered by regulatory factors outside of our control. After spending a year and a lot of resources, my team and I made the tough call to pivot our approach while keeping the core principles of our technology intact.

This pivot meant we had to start fresh in many ways—redefining our target customers and exploring new markets. It wasn’t easy, but I truly believe it was the best decision for the sustainability of our mission. By focusing on what people actually wanted, we positioned ourselves to build a viable business that could make a real impact on outdoor air quality.

Now, I’m excited to say our traction has really picked up since the pivot. The pivot definitely helped us win more grant funding to develop our tech further, and now we’ll launch our first case study in a month. We’re dedicated to constantly gathering feedback from customers to refine our offerings and ensure we’re creating technology that genuinely improves outdoor air quality.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Starting a business is no joke, and funding it can be one of the hardest parts. I was fortunate to graduate debt-free, thanks to a scholarship, and I worked multiple jobs throughout college, so I had some savings. When I decided to go full-time with my startup, I moved back home to keep my living expenses low, which helped me stretch my savings further.
In the early days, we didn’t have traction required for large pots of money, so I started applying for every type of funding I could find—even small grants, like $250, that seemed insignificant but could keep the company going. Many of these small grants were tied to mandatory business acceleration programs that were helpful yet time consuming. I ended up spending a lot of time on these, but also learning everything from how to develop hardware to how investors think. It was like getting a mini MBA while running the business, all for a little bit of capital in return.
It wasn’t easy. My time was worth a lot less than minimum wage when I compared the hours spent in training to the funding received. And at this point I wasn’t even getting paid. All the money was going back into the company for hardware development and customer discovery. Over time, those small grants added up to over $100,000 in cash and in-kind services, and since then we’ve started earning larger grants and even our first investment check in October.
By the time I started paying myself a regular salary—this past April—it had been two years since I went full-time. It’s definitely not the path for everyone, especially if you have a lot of debt or other responsibilities. I’m really grateful for my family’s support, because if things go south, I always have a place to go back to which I know is something not everyone can say.
In summary, I think the key to getting started with funding is to take advantage of any small grants or programs that offer both funding and business education. They might seem like a time sink, but they help you build traction, gain valuable insights, build your network, and set the foundation for more substantial investment later on.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.airvitalize.tech
• Instagram: @airvitalize
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/AirVitalize-Innovations/61561032691477/?_rdr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/airvitalize
• Twitter: @airvitalize
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/serenaal

Image Credits

Serena participating in beVisioneers The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship, Watson Institute Flagship Fellowship, and Taco Bell Ambition Accelerator