Meet Mel and Paul Booth, co-founders behind the venture Dappld, one of 22 ventures participating in the Sprout Accelerator Spring26 Cohort.
We caught up with Mel and Paul for a quick-fire five questions in five minutes to learn more about Dappld and what they both hope to achieve from their time in the Sprout Accelerator.
1. Tell us about Dappld. What are you building?
Dappld began with inflatable off-grid hot tubs and deployable water tanks and troughs, but when we started heating water outdoors, the heat loss was impossible to ignore. We didn’t want to default to closed-cell foam. Living rurally, we knew the incredible insulating properties of New Zealand wool, but it needed to be protected, waterproof, durable and flexible. That led us to develop an encapsulated wool material with much bigger potential, creating new high-value applications for NZ wool in thermal management, demanding environments and infrastructure.
2. What problem are you working to solve?
In outdoor, remote or demanding infrastructure environments, insulation or protection often needs to deal with water, movement, temperature change, rough handling and long-term use.
Traditional solutions such as closed-cell foam or rigid synthetic insulation can work well, but they are not always ideal where flexibility, waterproofing, packability, repairability and better material choices can be made.
Dappld matters because we are creating a way for New Zealand wool to perform in places it has not traditionally been used. We can begin to explore applications where natural fibre performance meets demanding conditions, from thermal protection and wet environments to industrial settings.
3. How does your solution work?
Wool naturally helps manage temperature in both hot and cold conditions, but to use it beyond traditional settings, it needs to be protected from water, movement and repeated handling. Our solution allows heat retention, cold and moisture protection and thermal separation.
We also love the potential for this material to become part of a more circular system and create an alternative option that makes an exciting use of New Zealand wool.
4. What is the next important milestone for your venture?
We are really looking forward to getting a case study underway, producing the largest quantity we have ever made, and seeing what other challenges we can overcome and learn from. We’d love to get our product into some demanding and unique situations and really put it to the test.
5. What are you hoping to get out of your time with Sprout?
We've heard many times that ventures often evolve during the startup process, and that's definitely been true for us.
One of our biggest challenges has been choosing the right first commercial pathways, because the potential applications are wide. We are looking forward to the wisdom and guidance, and we already feel it with our mentors, there is such a large pool of knowledge and experience; it's amazing.
During the Sprout Accelerator, we would love support with technical validation, IP strategy, and understanding where this material platform can create the greatest exposure and value for New Zealand wool.
Our first impression of Sprout has been incredibly positive. It already feels like the right environment to help us ask better questions, develop the opportunity and take Dappld further than we could on our own. We are motivated and inspired by being in the same room with everyone on the same wavelength, and who understand early founder life.
Find out more: www.dappld.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/dappldnz