bates started his first company in 2006 at 17 years old, beijing-based bridges to china. in 2014 bates co-founded kaiterra (formerly origins technology), a startup that develops iot hardware and software products to measure global air quality and pollution levels. kaiterra has raised an undisclosed amount from angel investors in an initial round of funding in january 2015. in april 2016, kaiterra's consumer air quality monitor, the laser egg, entered the apple stores across china. in 2017, bates and kaiterra co-founder jessica lam were selected for the forbes 30 under 30 list.