"Baru" is vying to disrupt the multibillion-dollar market for cabinets with an online, custom approach that puts idle manufacturing capacity to work. But first, founder Tino Go and Baru Inc. need more money.
After four-plus years of fits and starts, Baru launched a website on Jan. 25 where industry pros – interior designers, cabinet dealers and remodeling contractors – can order custom cabinets. Those orders, translated into machining instructions, go to regional cabinet makers whose computer-controlled machines turn those instructions, and Baru-supplied materials, into products. The result is custom cabinets that are priced competitively and delivered more quickly than the industry average – six weeks or sooner from the order, rather than several months, Go said.