Yves Béhar

The Verge reported that Béhar grew up in Lausanne, Switzerland, and moved to California in 1990.¹ He founded Fuseproject in 1999, and the firm is based in San Francisco.^1,2,3 SFMOMA reported that Fuseproject has worked with clients including Herman Miller, Samsung, the Nike Foundation, and MIT Media Lab.² SFMOMA reported that Béhar joined its board of trustees.²

The Verge reported that Béhar designed the Jambox wireless speaker, first released in 2010, which helped open a multibillion-dollar market for wireless speakers.¹ SFMOMA reported that Béhar co-founded August, a home-entry technology company.² SFMOMA reported that Béhar served as chief creative officer at wearable-technology company Jawbone.²

The Verge reported that August co-founder Jason Johnson said Béhar was notably persistent in asking questions.¹ The Verge reported that Béhar sold a 75 percent stake in Fuseproject to the Chinese conglomerate BlueFocus.¹ Béhar’s team found that 70 percent of office collaborations occur beside a desk.¹

Béhar stated that he is motivated by solving large problems.⁵ The Guardian characterized his work as pairing sleek products with buyers' sense that they are contributing to broader good.⁵ For a SodaStream product using a reusable glass bottle, company figures estimated that an average British family could avoid 550 disposable drinks bottles per year.⁵

Béhar stated that about three million units of an education-related product had been distributed and that it had particularly benefited education in Peru and Uruguay.⁵ According to TED Talks, Béhar gave a TED talk on how surfboards connect us to nature.⁶