Finnish smartwatch tops crowdfunding target in hours
Finnish Haikara smartwatch topped its $75,000 crowdfunding target in less than a day after it launched on Indiegogo, underlying how well crowdfunding works as an early sales channel for young watch brands.
Haikara watches, designed by Harri Koskinen, found 450 backers in less than 20 hours and has still full month of campaign to go.
“I am extremely thrilled to realise that the old saying that hard work and persistence actually pays off. Like all startups, also we have had our ups and downs, but the key is to keep on going and never give up. We have after many months of hard work successfully launched our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that took off superbly,” said founder Marcus Mangs.
Haikara says it is the world’s thinnest smartwatch that lasts for up to a week on one charge. It changes watch faces to match your outfit or mood.
“At Haikara we were unsatisfied with most smartwatches. They duplicate our phones, distract us with notifications and need daily charging. And the biggest crime of all — they look boring. We’ve created the Haikara designer smartwatch for people who care about style and simplicity,” the company says in its campaign.
Crowdfunding Watches: SUCCESS
Crowdfunding and watches seem to be a match made in heaven. In Nordics Lithuanian brothers Matas and Danielius Jakutis have run two successful campaigns for their Filippo Loreti watches, with their latest campaign nearing 5 million euros.
This week Swiss brand MyKronoz made crowdfunding history with its ZeTime hybrid smartwatch, which has mechanical hands over TFT color touchscreen. It raised $5.3 million in 35 days, becoming the most-funded project from a European company, as well as the most-funded hybrid smartwatch ever.
“Proprietary ‘Smart Movement’ technology enables these always-on hands to function for up to 30 days with a single charge, while adjusting to users’ timezone, as well as aligning to make sure they do not obstruct visibility of the screen when reading notifications,” the company said.
