An email from a user in the US prompted Coolfly founder Zhu Runmin to urgently convene his team in China. The question on the table was whether they should build a dedicated desktop login feature.
An email from a user in the US prompted Coolfly founder Zhu Runmin to call an emergency meeting with his team in China. The question: should the company divert scarce R&D resources to build a desktop login feature, something they hadn’t prioritized before?
The user’s message wasn’t about a bug or complaint. Her husband, whose health had declined, could no longer go outside as often. He didn’t use smart devices. Watching birds had become the highlight of his day. She had bought him a smart bird feeder, only to discover that it couldn’t be accessed from a computer. She asked if Coolfly could help her husband see the birds on a screen he could use.
Beneath that, though, was a question Zhu felt more deeply: what kind of company they were building.
“Demand is endless, but truly meaningful needs don’t show up every day.”
After his team weighed time efficiency and commercial considerations, Zhu made the decision. A dedicated project team would be formed for this one user. He named it “Operation Heartline,” framing it as a development effort done in the name of love.
Inside Coolfly’s Shenzhen office, a group of co-founders and engineers began what many would consider an uneconomical sprint for someone they had never met. From receiving the request to launching the feature, Coolfly spent two weeks. The desktop login system went live on June 15.
In an internal email, Zhu wrote:
“This is a system that will never appear in our financial reports and isn’t even part of our mainstream release. But it reflects Coolfly’s core values.”
In early 2024, Zhu led Coolfly into the birdwatching hardware market. A little more than a year later, the company has attracted tens of thousands of users in its core North American market.
Zhu was not a birdwatcher before starting the company, but as he worked on the product, he found himself photographing birds, observing them through Coolfly’s feeders, and scrolling through users’ photos and videos. Over time, he understood the appeal and became an enthusiast himself.
Hobbies have a strong pull. People record what they see, share it, discover communities, and connect through a shared language. This behavior shaped Coolfly’s business logic: hardware acts as the window into birdwatching, software is the interaction layer, and the company aims to meet enthusiasts’ needs through decentralized user-generated content.
“Most products on the market still follow a hardware-first mindset, with rudimentary software experiences,” Zhu said. Although US startups and several Chinese manufacturers had already entered the space, Coolfly identified an opening for a more immersive experience tailored to users willing to invest time and attention in backyard birdwatching.
Coolfly wants to position itself as a category breaker and pioneer in birdwatching technology.
Filling a market gap
In the US, birdwatching is a large consumer opportunity hidden in millions of backyards.
Driven by income levels, lifestyle, and residential patterns, North America is the world’s largest birdwatching market. According to the American Bird Conservancy, the US has about 96 million active birdwatchers, and the related market exceeds USD 108 billion.
Suburban living plays a central role. In quiet suburbs with spacious yards and detached homes, lush lawns and flowering trees are common. These environments give time-rich, financially comfortable households space to immerse themselves in backyard birdwatching. Of the 96 million US birdwatchers, about 91 million feed birds at home, often placing a lounge chair in the yard to relax with family. Research by 36Kr indicates that more than 60% of US households feed birds.
Birdwatching has become part of daily life for many families. While the market’s potential is significant, early products often fell short. First-generation smart feeders felt like surveillance cameras pointed at birds. Users felt like operators rather than participants, and the experience lacked interaction and emotional engagement.
“Once the feeder is set up, 90% of user time happens on the phone. They don’t want complex actions or constant tinkering with devices,” Zhu said. Early entrants focused heavily on hardware, but Coolfly believed the core of the experience lived in the app.
Although birdwatching appears to revolve around hardware, the real service layer sits in software. Most early US apps only allowed recording, downloading, and sharing. The feeders functioned like connected security cameras, leaving users without social connection or educational content.
Coolfly invested heavily in its app from the beginning, spending months researching, redesigning, and refining the experience. Its vision was to build a birdwatching community that filled an unmet need in the US market. The company integrated artificial intelligence into mobile monitoring, letting users identify species through AI rather than only observe them.
“If all you offer is filming, users will lose interest,” Zhu said. “Ornithology is a rigorous, knowledge-rich field. Providing new knowledge increases user stickiness and sparks social interaction.” AI also analyzes feeder footage and generates daily reports, highlighting new visitors and first-time species.
Smart editing features and content recommendations further reduce operational costs and increase user enjoyment.
Some users compare Coolfly to a blend of Bilibili’s community feel, Xiaohongshu’s aesthetics, Zhihu’s knowledge base, and the reflective tone of WeChat Moments. Coolfly essentially adapted a mature Chinese content playbook for US backyards.
Coolfly defines its core product as “high entertainment, strong content, light social.” “If a product can’t create joy, it won’t last,” Zhu said. Because birdwatching is driven by enjoyment, Coolfly’s entertainment-forward approach amplifies that pleasure.
“Light social” maintains a focused and vertical community. Users can like and comment, but they cannot privately message one another. The company wants interactions to stay centered on birds and nature rather than unrelated conversation.
“I want this community to stay pure,” Zhu said. “Users should simply enjoy the connection between people and the natural world.”
Bringing a “Bilibili for birdwatching” to the US
Coolfly is a new entrant in North America. With an unconventional product philosophy and the manufacturing advantages of Shenzhen’s supply chain, it is reshaping the birdwatching market.
Bird feeders have historically been expensive in the US, often priced around USD 300. Many families treated them as gift purchases, leading to seasonal sales peaks around Black Friday and Mother’s and Father’s Day.
“We want to strip the gift product identity and bring feeders back into the regular consumer category,” Zhu said. Seasonal fluctuations create volatility, which complicates long-term planning.
To reposition the category, Coolfly made several changes. On the hardware side, it developed low-power feeders, windowsill feeders, and standalone cameras. “Many users don’t actually need a feeder, they just need a birdwatching camera,” Zhu said. Tailoring hardware to specific scenarios improved product fit.
On the software side, Coolfly leaned heavily into community value. One notable metric came when a user logged into the app 101 times in a single day. “We thought it was an error,” Zhu said. “We immediately checked the data and confirmed its accuracy.” The finding highlighted the depth of user engagement and the commercial potential behind the hobby.
The app’s usage patterns also revealed a demographic shift. Birdwatching in the US traditionally attracts men over 50. Coolfly, however, has seen rising participation from users around 35, with many women actively sharing content. This broader base validated Coolfly’s direction.
Consistent innovation across hardware and software reflects Coolfly’s long-term commitment. In Shenzhen, many businesses leverage China’s supply chain to export products, including bird feeders. Coolfly’s strategy differs by emphasizing brand, platform building, and continuous development.
At CES this year, Coolfly debuted with a nine-square-meter booth and received more attention than expected. Its booth will expand to 40 square meters next year, signaling industry recognition of its progress.
Coolfly refuses to compete solely on price. It invests in product quality, user experience, and software depth, aiming to build a sustainable cycle. “From the beginning, I knew we had to build a brand and a platform,” Zhu said.
Hardware provides cash flow. Subscriptions and community activity support growth. B2B licensing expands the ecosystem. Using a platform mindset, Coolfly is restructuring the US birdwatching market by letting hardware fuel software, and software unlock further commercial potential.
A global dream of connecting with nature
Coolfly’s vision is to become a leading global nature tech platform, building new forms of human-nature interaction through internet infrastructure and AI.
Zhu observed that although nature tech exists in many niches, none have grown into a broad global category. Bird feeders presented an entry point.
“I believe backyard birdwatching is the gateway to nature technology,” he said. Feeder footage often captures more than birds. Users have seen deer, lizards, snakes, weasels, raccoons, and even wolves and black bears. Each yard becomes an ecological sample showing the interdependence of local species.
Through the camera and app, anyone can connect with nearby nature. It often becomes a first step toward curiosity and appreciation.
Zhu recalled a story from Ningxia:
“A friend installed two feeders. He usually saw only sparrows. But one day, after sticking with it, a gray magpie showed up. None of us recognized it, but a user from the US identified the species in the comments.”
“As it turns out, the ecosystem outside my window was already complete,” Zhu said, quoting the friend who shared the story with him. Across borders, environments differ, but the joy of discovery is similar. Technology allows people to reconnect with nature from balconies, courtyards, and neighborhood parks.
As Coolfly gains ground in North America, Zhu is turning his attention back to China. The company has begun developing the domestic market through B2B partnerships in Wuhan, Shanghai, and Beijing. In these projects, Coolfly functions not only as a birdwatching tool but also as a platform for nature education. “We hope these collaborations help more people in China, especially young people, gain low-cost access to local biodiversity and grow their curiosity and respect for nature,” Zhu said.
Interest in birdwatching is rising in Chinese cities. Related activities are growing quickly, and celebrity participation has broadened public attention. As more urban residents seek nature, birdwatching is becoming a new lifestyle.
Birds and wildlife have become a medium for cross-cultural exchange. Coolfly’s community brings people together around shared content and curiosity. As content grows and interactions deepen, the community will likely evolve organically, building trust and creativity.
Coolfly’s story began with the warm, and commercially irrational, decision to pursue Operation Heartline. That decision shaped the company’s identity. Its foundation is not hardware specifications but a connection between people and nature. While many global sellers focus on traffic and conversion funnels, Coolfly is demonstrating a slower, steadier path built on user experience and community bonds.
Imagine a user in Beijing capturing rare birds visiting a courtyard in a hutong. AI identifies the species and shares the footage with the global community. Bird experts in the US and enthusiasts in the UK discuss its movements and habits.
This is Coolfly’s long-term goal, to build a network that connects nature lovers around the world.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by 36Kr Brand for 36Kr.