Miyoo.com

How is it social?

Miyoo addresses mass consumption of natural resources by providing an online tool that connects people, communities and businesses who wish to share and rent goods rather than continue to purchase new goods purely for their own consumption. This approach helps users to reduce their carbon footprints by sharing resources with others as opposed to continuing to purchase new products.

Miyoo’s ambition is to acquire 1.2 million users of its service by 2012, which it claims will save over £100 million for its users and, moreover, save 1 million tonnes of carbon emissions per year. Miyoo is working with i10, EEDA, and the Low Carbon Unit of the University of East Anglia to ensure that users carbon savings are quantified accurately.

What is its business model?

Miyoo.com is a service that aims to support the creation of communities that practice sharing between people and businesses. It is designed to help people set up or join existing sharing communities with people who share similar interests or goals. Working with i10, EEDA, and the Low Carbon Unit of the University of East Anglia, Miyoo aims to prove that greater sharing of manufactured goods can lead to reduced carbon emissions, improved use of resources and save users money.

The items available to share on Miyoo.com are multifarious, including cameras, hedge trimmers, child seats, sausage machines, tents, drillers and more. Miyoo is an online network where users exchange goods by sharing (free) or hiring (for a charge). The Miyoo concept rewards users with points and feedback every time a person shares or rents an item, which encourages users to lend amongst each other.

In this respect Miyoo is similar to eBay, Freecycle and Ooffoo, websites that engage their users to drive their own online sharing and commercial activities. As community members, users establish trust with each other, making sharing and lending a safe and enjoyable activity.

Its history

The company was founded by Dan Metcalfe, Michael Meisterling and Tobias Russell in June 2007. In December 2008, it was awarded a grant of £1,000 from i10 towards working with the Low Carbon Unit of the University of East Anglia to further its research. In January 2009, Miyoo signed an agreement with Tate & Lyle to trial the service amongst its employees at the major Thames refinery. In February 2009, Miyoo was further awarded £3,000 by the East of England Development Agency for further work with the Low Carbon Unit.

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