Two former Dyson engineers launch their own company

Two of Dyson’s top engineers have left to launch their own cordless vacuum – which they claim is twice as powerful as that of their former employer.

Pablo Montero, 38, and Lucas Horne, 35, met in 2006 on their first day at the company and spent six years perfecting the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball vacuum.

But they left a few years ago and have been secretly working on their own rival invention – the Lupe Pure Cordless.

The company is based in Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire – just a few miles from Sir James Dyson’s £15million country estate. 

The pair claim their new machine produces twice as much suction power as the Dyson V11 and is almost £140 cheaper. 

The inventors claim it is a ‘game-changer’ in the market because it has the same power as wired vacuums but with the greater mobility of cordless.

Part of the design is the Suction Intensifier, a new technology which aids the motor by almost doubling its dust-collecting power.

Lupe is now set to go into production after raising £556,000 on Kickstarter, making it the biggest-ever crowdfunding campaign for a vacuum cleaner.

Mr Montero, 38, a trained aeronautical engineer, said: ‘I think it’s fair to say you could not find two people who know more about vacuum cleaner design than us.

‘We’ve designed what we think is the best vacuum cleaner in the world. The Pure Cordless can clean the whole house in one go, even the biggest house

‘The Pure Cordless addresses inadequacies of cordless machines and makes them last a bit longer – it has better suction than others in the marker and longer performance.’

When the pair met in 2006 Lucas was a graduate trainee and Pablo was a research manager.

The Dyson Cinetic Big Ball they worked on together was 40 times more efficient than anything else on the market at the time.

Mr Montero left in 2012 followed by Mr Horne a year later but they joined forces a few years later after becoming frustrated at poor products on the market.

Mr Montero, who is a father of one, said: ‘I left Dyson saying I never want to work in vacuums again. I wanted to go back into aeronautical engineering before we had the idea for Lupe.

‘But years after leaving we were frustrated at seeing many cordless vacuums not performing as claimed.

‘We felt that in order to make the Pure Cordless cleaner we had to start with a blank sheet of paper.

‘We’ve spent the last three years designing, developing, building and testing countless prototypes, proving every time to push the limits of what is achievable.

‘We’ve now perfected our quality and performance and are truly proud of the Pure Cordless.’

Lupe’s brushless Japanese motor is capable of spinning at 108,000 RPM – around twice the speed of a jet engine.

Coupled with the Suction Intensifier, this gives it nearly twice the power of the Dyson V11 Absolute, with 3,000pa compared to 1570pa [pa = ‘pascal’, a pressure measuring unit].

Part of the aim of Lupe is to be less demanding on the environment.

The pair say around 50 per cent of small domestic appliances taken to waste processing in the EU are vacuum cleaners – because companies continue to launch new products.

This means working or repairable items wind up in landfill.

The pair want to expand the range of products they offer having received more than £1 million from investors and government grants. They claim it is their intention to design products which are not thrown away after a short period. 

Mr Horne, who is a father of two, added: ‘What’s the point in having a ‘small portable’ cordless vacuum if it barely gets the job done?

‘With Lupe, we’re getting the trifecta of cordless vacuums: power, battery life, and functionality.

‘Along with developing a unique platform that encourages long term appliance ownership, we believe we have a game changer.’ 

The first production models of the Lupe Pure Cordless are expected to be available in December.