S'pore startup gets great crowdfunding kickoff for tracking device
- Three-yr-old organization specialises in loss prevention gadgets
- Aimed for US$5K in pledges, has hit nearly US100K through crowdfunding
CROWFUNDING is pretty much the maximum empirical method of having marketplace validation for a product underneath development, and Singapore-based technology startup Innova Technology have to actually be pumped over its pledge effort on Indiegogo.
Seeking a complete of US$5,000 at the crowdfunding platform for its Bluetooth four.0-based totally Duet monitoring tool, it has already hit US$96,120 in pledges, with approximately fifty one hours to go as we write this.
The Duet tool, the 1/3 product from the 3-yr-antique business enterprise, is defined as a ‘loss-prevention tool.’ It permits customers to no longer only music their smartphones, but to also use their smartphones to tune their different assets.
Duet's built-in alarm without delay beeps anytime the consumer is greater than 10m away from his or her telephone. By urgent a button at the tool, the person can also get the phone to ring – even supposing it had been in silent mode – in order that it could be placed.
Duet also can be connected to different gadgets – wallets, handbags, and so on. – with the Protag app continuously monitoring such tagged objects. The app permits up to 10 items to be tagged, and shows their GPS (worldwide positioning device) location.
The reality that Innova Technology has essentially busted its pledge aim on Indiegogo indicates that the marketplace is ripe for any such tool, specifically given the prevalence of smartphones that run Bluetooth 4.0 technology, said the enterprise’s advertising head Johnathan Leow (percent).
“It tells us that we've got chanced upon a hungry market, and that there's very, very large call for for telephone loss prevention solutions,” he informed Digital News Asia (DNA) through electronic mail.
Certainly one undertaking capitalist company is banking on this market call for. In 2012, Singapore-based technology startup incubator Red Dot Ventures invested S$589,000 (US$480,000 at the quotes then) in Innova Technology, in line with Tech In Asia.
Red Dot Ventures is an incubator beneath the National Research Foundation’s Technology Incubation Scheme, a central authority co-funding initiative.
The corporation presently has a headcount of 10 staff, with 4 of them dedicated to overseeing iOS and Android improvement, as well as backend servers. Its products have rolled out in over 20 markets, along with Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand in South-East Asia. Its No 1 market has been the US, according to Leow.
Given that it already has such investment in the back of it, why did Innova Technology decide to go the crowdfunding path with Duet, and why Indiegogo mainly?
“We selected the crowdfunding course mainly because we had to validate with the mass marketplace whether losing phones is one of these actual pain, and if people are willing to pay for a solution,” stated Leow. “And we did truly use the Red Dot funding, because it gave us the funds to make this validation happen.”
“We chose Indiegogo because of the benefit of setting up a marketing campaign there, in comparison with the 3 to four weeks’ approval method that Kickstarter requires,” he stated, including that the delay could have been an possibility fee.
“We had to validate the idea fast,” he said.
Leow additionally stated that its US$5,000 initial pledge goal became deliberately set low due to the fact Innova Technboogy’s major aim was to validate the viability of the idea.
“And the effects were very tremendous so far,” he stated.
Third time’s the appeal
Innova Technology’s first products have been the Protag G1, which has been phased out, and the Protag Elite.
“The foremost differences between Protag Elite and Duet are the use case and the battery existence,” said Leow.
“Elite is supposed especially to help enterprise travelers defend their luggage, wallets and baggage as they may be noticeably mobile, and need to guard these gadgets at the pass.
“Duet, is a mainstream life-style accessory centered particularly at protecting telephones from getting misplaced.
“Elite additionally comes with a push-out rechargeable USB battery that lasts up to a 12 months on a single rate, at the same time as Duet operates on replaceable 3V lithium batteries that final six months,” he added.
The company is now promoting approximately 1,000 gadgets of Protag Elite per month, and has bought five,000 units of the Duet on account that its April release, Leow claimed.
Market plans
According to Tech In Asia, Innova Technology has been searching at telecom operators, banks, and novelty stores as potential distribution centres and partners.
“We've already secured a partnership with a main Singapore telco, and have also had our products distributed through more than one banks and novelty shops,” Leow advised DNA.
“We can not call these companions for the time being due to confidentiality disclosure agreements,” he delivered.
The enterprise also moved its manufacturing to China years in the past, saying this introduced down prices by way of 30%.
“Our additives are synthetic in China, however they are assembled inhouse at our headquarters for satisfactory control functions,” said Leow.
Duet is now most effective to be had for the iPhone 4S, iPhone five, iPhone 5S and Android v4.three devices.
“We don't want to make Duet available for Windows Phones or BlackBerry as those systems are nevertheless a totally small minority inside the marketplace,” stated Leow.
“We may check out Windows Phone in the direction of 12 months-stop as the adoption charge has been slowly however gradually gaining,” he added.
Next Page: Q&A with Innova Technology founder and CEO Rick Tan