In an exclusive interview with The CanadianSME Small Business Magazine, Joseph Karam, Co-Founder of Bello, shares the story behind building a next-generation consumer brand that blends hardware, wellness, and daily habit. What started as a personal connection to performance and health quickly evolved into a bold decision to leave traditional investment paths and commit fully to entrepreneurship.
Interview By Kripa Anand
I’m 26 years old, born and raised in Montreal. I started my first business at 19 during my first year at McGill University, managing small real estate portfolios. I ran that business while completing my degree and eventually sold it in July 2025.
Entrepreneurship has always been part of my life. My father is an immigrant entrepreneur, so I grew up around business and investing. In 2023, he asked me to join the family office. I brought my real estate business under the family office umbrella and was supposed to be managing our investments alongside him.
A few weeks after joining the family office, I met my now-partner Clément Bouland after he pitched Bello on Dans l’œil du dragon and my father made an investment on the show. While I was supposed to be focused on managing a broader portfolio, I quickly became deeply involved in Bello and shifted my full attention to building the company full time.
You started managing real estate at 19, joined your family office, and then pivoted to building Bello full time after meeting your co-founder. What drew you so strongly to this idea that you were willing to shift from portfolio management to the grind of a consumer hardware startup at 24–25?
The first was honestly youth. When you’re 23, hungry, ambitious, and maybe a little naive, you’re not calculating every downside. I wasn’t sitting there thinking about supply chain risk, hardware margins, inventory financing, tariffs, CAC, or how brutal consumer hardware can be. I just thought, this is a great idea, and I want to build it. That was enough for me.
The second piece is that Bello genuinely resonated with my lifestyle. I’ve always been into health and performance. I’ve done triathlons and ultramarathons. I train regularly. I’m constantly thinking about how to optimize my nutrition, my supplements, my sleep, my recovery. Hydration is such a fundamental part of performance and well-being, yet the options out there felt either boring, unhealthy, or wasteful.
You started managing real estate at 19, joined your family office, and then pivoted to building Bello full time after meeting your co-founder. What drew you so strongly to this idea that you were willing to shift from portfolio management to the grind of a consumer hardware startup at 24–25?
The first was honestly youth. When you’re 23, hungry, ambitious, and maybe a little naive, you’re not calculating every downside. I wasn’t sitting there thinking about supply chain risk, hardware margins, inventory financing, tariffs, CAC, or how brutal consumer hardware can be. I just thought, this is a great idea, and I want to build it. That was enough for me.
The second piece is that Bello genuinely resonated with my lifestyle. I’ve always been into health and performance. I’ve done triathlons and ultramarathons. I train regularly. I’m constantly thinking about how to optimize my nutrition, my supplements, my sleep, my recovery. Hydration is such a fundamental part of performance and well-being, yet the options out there felt either boring, unhealthy, or wasteful.
When what you’re building aligns with how you live, the effort feels different. It’s still hard, but you have a different kind of motivation. . I’ve always loved entrepreneurship and the challenge of building something meaningful. Bello felt like a chance to pursue that dream and build a brand that could genuinely improve daily life.
For readers new to Bello, can you briefly explain what the system is and how it works—hardware, filtration, and capsules—and what problem you’re trying to solve in the at-home hydration space?
At its core, Bello is a tool to help people drink more water. It’s a countertop water dispenser that filters tap water and transforms it into flavored and functional water at the touch of a button. The machine uses a high performance carbon block filter to reduce contaminants and improve taste. If you want, you can flavor your water with natural concentrates made with all natural ingredients using multi serving glass capsules. Each capsule delivers roughly 15 to 35 servings and can be easily swapped between uses, allowing you to move from electrolytes to flavored water to functional blends in seconds.
Bello is built around the core pain points we experience with hydration. Tap water often contains contaminants and does not taste great, so filtration matters. Many people are not drawn to plain water, so flavor makes hydration more compelling. Consumers are increasingly conscious about ingredients, so we focus on natural and functional components without added sugar. We use multi serving glass capsules to move away from single use plastic consumption. And through our connected app, we help people track their intake so they do not forget to hydrate. It is a system designed to make better hydration better, and easier to maintain on a day-today.
You’re not “just” a beverage brand or “just” a hardware company—you’re building both at once, with custom glass capsules and a unique production process. What have been the toughest operational and financial challenges so far, and what did those long 16–18 hour days on the production line in Collingwood teach you?
One of the toughest parts of building Bello is that almost everything is custom. We did not just design a formula and a brand. We designed and created the entire system, from the machine to the glass capsules to the production process itself.
If you are launching a traditional beverage, there are existing production lines and standardized formats. You can use a common bottle or can, plug into an established co-packer, and benefit from shared economies of scale. In our case, because our capsules are custom glass with a narrow neck and filled with concentrated blends rather than ready to drink liquids, no standard line worked for us. We had to design, build, and finance our own filling line. Then we had to convince manufacturing partners to dedicate space in their facilities to house our custom equipment and train their teams on a process built specifically for Bello.
The same applies to the hardware. Custom molds, tooling, and components mean high upfront costs before scale kicks in. Just reaching commercialization required significant capital and operational problem solving.
Those 16 to 18 hour days in Collingwood taught me that you cannot build something like this from a distance. Early on, you are the one on the floor solving problems, adjusting processes, and doing the work yourself. If you are not willing to get your hands dirty, you should not be building a custom product.
You launched Bello DTC and are now expanding into an omni-channel strategy. How are you thinking about building a category-defining consumer brand from Canada—positioning, routines vs. flavours, and the long-term plan for scaling beyond early adopters?
We are not just trying to build a category-defining brand. We are building a new category altogether. There is no real precedent for a countertop system that combines filtration, functional concentrates, and custom glass capsules in this way. Because of that, we are not only creating brand awareness, we are doing a significant amount of product education.
That is why we started DTC. In the early days, it is the most predictable and scalable channel. It allows us to control the messaging, educate consumers through paid media, and clearly explain what the product is and how it fits into their lives. You cannot do that the same way on a retail shelf. At the same time, omni channel is critical for us long term. It builds trust and diversifies revenue streams, which mitigates risk. So we are building toward omni channel, but DTC gives us the control we need at the start.
In terms of positioning, we do not want to be just a product. We want to be a brand that becomes part of language and routine. I was at a friend’s place recently and someone said, can you make me a Bello. That is the goal.
We are also shifting from flavor focused to outcome focused. To become essential, not just nice to have, Bello has to fit into daily routines. The vision is for people to wake up and instinctively make themselves a Bello. We want to build a proud Canadian consumer brand that becomes part of everyday life.
For other young founders considering physical products or hardware, what honest advice would you share about timelines, capital, and resilience—and what mindset has helped you stay committed to Bello through the messier parts of building both a product and the infrastructure around it?
If you are building a physical product or hardware company, you have to be prepared for a much longer timeline than you think. You might spend years before you even see the product in customers’ hands, and getting to that point is not guaranteed. There are technical hurdles, manufacturing setbacks, regulatory issues, and constant iteration. Progress is rarely linear.
It will also require more capital than you expect. Hardware is capital intensive. Tooling, molds, minimum order quantities, inventory, and production runs all require upfront investment. You will need to convince investors not only that the product and business model make sense, but that you are the team capable of executing. Having a good idea is maybe five percent of the challenge. Execution is everything.
In terms of mindset, it helps tremendously to believe wholeheartedly in what you are building. There have been moments where we felt close to being down and out. What keeps you going is a deep, almost irrational belief that if you can just clear the next hurdle, you will unlock the next level. When you have poured years of effort, capital, and identity into something, your level of commitment changes. You keep going because you see the vision clearly, even when the path is messy.
Disclaimer:The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CanadianSME Small Business Magazine. Our platform is dedicated to fostering dialogue and sharing insights that inspire and empower small and medium-sized businesses across Canada.
