The Pebble Time is already Kickstarter's most successful project ever

9 months ago

Pebble’s new Time smartwatch has become the most funded project ever on crowd-funding site Kickstarter, raising more than £9.7 million in one week.

The smartwatch, which is Pebble’s third product but the first to feature a colour screen, had already broken one record by raising over $9 million (£5.8m) in its first day on the site. Kickstarter is a crowd-sourcing website where start-up companies create pitch pages and invite visitors to invest in the project or ‘back’ it to help reach a funding goal.

So far, more than 60,000 people have backed the Pebble Time.

Until now, the most successful project in Kickstarter history had been the Coolest Cooler, a drinks cooler that comes with a built-in blender, wireless speaker and USB charging points. Pebble’s original smartwatch is third on the list, having raised more than $10 million (£6.5m) after having an initial funding goal of $100,000 (£652,000).

The new Time smartwatch comes with a colour e-paper screen similar to the technology used on e-readers such as the Amazon Kindle and is water resistant, with Pebble promising up to seven days battery life. The watch will have a retail price of £129 once the Kickstarter campaign ends on March 28, but those who choose to fund the Time have been able to pre-order the wearable device for less. There are still units available for £116 on Pebble’s Kickstarter page.

A movie of TV show Veronica Mars and Scrubs actor Zach Braff’s most recent movie Wish I Was Here have both been funded on the site in the past, as has a music player backed by Neil Young.

At the Mobile World Congress technology show in Barcelona this week, Pebble announced they will also be selling a high-end Steel version of the Time that will cost around £160, and looks similar to the premium version of the Apple Watch. Some experts had suggested this week that the premium Apple Watch Edition could cost as much as £3,000, meaning Pebble may be able to draw attention and possibly some sales away from the technology giant by undercutting them in price.

Apple is set to announce the final details of its own wearable at a press event in San Francisco next week, including a launch date and full price options of the three versions of the device. Last month, Apple chief Tim Cook confirmed the wearable will go on sale in April.

There have also been questions raised over whether Pebble needs to use Kickstarter as a means to raise funds, as some commentators pointed out more than a million units of the original Pebble Watch have been sold since it was funded in 2012.