About Grouphug

What the world really needs is a Grouphug.

At Grouphug, we believe creativity & design can push solar technology to be more accessible.

There is a world where renewable energy can be user friendly, and ridiculously good looking! And most importantly, they’ll reduce your reliance on fossil fuels. We’re not going to be able to go off the grid overnight, but we can take steps to getting there. Our patent pending Window Solar Charger is just the first of many Grouphug products that will shift the way we think about consuming energy.

So, the world is ending...

Burning fossil fuels for electricity is one of the largest drivers of climate change. Less than 15% of electricity in the US is from renewable resources like solar. We’re creating products that help more people adopt sustainable technology, like solar panels, into their everyday lifestyle. No roof, no problem.

Design is a powerful tool.

Industrial design & climate change are intertwined. There is a big opportunity for designers to pave a path to a more circular future. Most consumers want to do something to help the environment, but only 20% want to make any effort to adopt sustainable habits [Pew]. Honestly, we don’t blame them. Being eco friendly is less convenient, more expensive, and for lack of a better word - clunky. We know that old habits die hard, which is why we’re designing our products to fit seamlessly into the lifestyle you love. Minimal effort required.

We started off as an activist collective.

Grouphug started in 2014 as an activist design collective. We curate & produce an annual exhibition during NYC Design Week around big hairy topics (gun violence, nutrition, energy, & more). Read more about Grouphug Collective

Founder

Grouphug was founded by Krystal Persaud, a product designer based out of New York City. Krystal is obsessed with developing products that fall in the intersection of education, technology, and society. Anything else is not worth designing.

She's a Founding Member & former Senior Director of Product Design at littleBits. She's a graduate of the Georgia Tech School of Industrial Design. She's also an adjunct instructor at NJIT, SVA, and Parsons. She's spoken at numerous events including the annual AIGA Design Conference, IDSA’s International Design Conference, FIT's Women & Technology Symposium, MIT’s Sandbox Conference, & Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival.

Products