Conserv: Exporting Collection Protection
Conserv offers an environmental monitoring program that provides wireless data for real-time data analysis and threshold-based alerts of environmental conditions in buildings. The package includes sensors and gateways that work together to deliver temperature, relative humidity, and light readings with industry-leading levels of accuracy. The Conserv platform is used by a variety of customers including museums, libraries, archives, historic properties, private collections, and conservation consultants.
Conserv was started in Birmingham in 2018, by Austin Senseman and Nathan McMinn, with a vision to help a niche audience solve a non-optional problem with sensors and analytics. Through late 2018 and early 2019, the team spoke with close to 50 potential customers in industries ranging from science labs, self- storage, pool maintenance, grocery stores, and museums. It was the museum end-use case that best fit the original vision – sensors and analytics helping a niche customer solve a problem of environmental monitoring.
In March 2019 Conserv launched its efforts to target the world’s estimated 450,000 Galleries, Libraries, Archives, & Museums (GLAMs). The team discovered that collections are required to maintain specific environmental conditions to care for objects. They also found that current solutions on the market were tailored for a broader audience and weren’t working for the specific needs of GLAMs.
Over the summer of 2019, the team raised angel investment to develop prototype sensors and analytics solutions using five collections including the Birmingham Museum of Art. The product development progressed to such an extent that Conserv signed up its first paying customer, the Arizona Museum of Natural History. And in 2020, Conserv won Alabama Launchpad’s seed stage competition and prize money.
Dave Masom joined Conserv in February 2022 as Chief Product Officer and moved into the CEO role in the summer of 2023. Prior to joining Conserv, he was Vice President at Pack Health in Birmingham and previously a management consultant at Deloitte in London. Masom has a degree in Experimental Psychology from University of Bristol in England.
Alabama International Trade Center (AITC) Assistance
In 2019, Conserv was referred to the Alabama International Trade Center (AITC) by the University of Alabama in Birmingham’s Commercial Accelerator program. The AITC is a member of the Alabama SBDC Network, a resource partner of the Small Business Administration.
The company was interested in the European market and the AITC compiled research to identify customers, distributors, and trade shows there. The AITC also provided export training, guides on technology controls and GDPR, global e-commerce, and website globalization. Based on that market intelligence, Conserv organized a focus group of potential customers in Europe to review their competitiveness. The trials went well, but they learned they needed a local partner on the ground in Europe to provide customer support.
The AITC continued to provide research on cultural heritage, preservation, and art conservation trade shows to help guide their export strategy. When Conserv developed a relationship with a distributor in the UK, the AITC provided guidance and checklists on international distribution.
Dave Masom had the following to say about the assistance from the AITC:
“I greatly appreciated Carolyn Turner and the AITC’s help as we explored expanding internationally. There are many pieces to this kind of expansion, and it was not a decision we took lightly. Carolyn was able to point me in the right direction to get all my questions answered so we could feel confident in the decision. If our UK projects go well, we plan to expand across the EU.”
Today, Conserv customers include hundreds of institutions including the Smithsonian, Guggenheim, Harvard University, the National Park Service, and institutions in Birmingham and Alabama.
The company has five full time employees and offers 401(k), health insurance (including vision and dental. Conserv now has relationships with three distributors in the UK and participates in the Institute of Conservation’s industry conferences in the UK.