Case Study: ootBox pivots to COVID-ready modular workspaces and accelerates remote collaboration with Dropbox

Reflections from three founders who launched businesses in 2020

Three founders—Allison Zofan (ootBox), Ken Olds (Muggin Coffeehouse), and Michelle Egger (BIOMILQ)—launched very different businesses in 2020 but faced the same herculean challenge: starting up during a pandemic. They dealt with shifting customer needs, delayed openings, safety concerns, remote work constraints, and the uncertainty of fundraising and regulatory processes.

Each adapted quickly: ootBox reframed its shipping‑container workspaces as air‑filtered COVID solutions and reshaped its pitches and materials, resulting in healthcare leases and new use cases; Muggin redesigned its layout and digital menus for safe service and opened to strong community support as Whitehaven’s first Black‑owned coffee shop; and BIOMILQ built a remote‑first operations and hiring model, used virtual data rooms to streamline investor and regulatory work, and continued advancing its research and FDA pathway.

ootBox

Allison Zofan

ootBox