A Skolkovo startup that has designed a smart clock that shows users notifications as they need them has raised more than eight times the amount it was seeking on the Indiegogo crowdfunding website.
Glance Clock, which is being promoted under the tagline “See what you need, when you need it” syncs with users’ smartphones or other mobile devices to alert them of upcoming meetings and give other timely notifications. Its makers launched a campaign on the California-based site Indiegogo in September to raise $50,000 to fund the clock’s production, and by November 1 when the campaign ended, had raised $414,287.
“Thank you for your support! We can’t believe that our campaign has ended and we got an AWESOME 827 percent of the goal,” the company wrote on the Glance Clock page on Facebook.
Video: Glance Clock.
Those who have contributed to the campaign will get one or more Glance Clocks at a discounted price, with offers starting at $99 per clock – half the planned retail price. The backers should receive their clocks next February, several months before the product hits the mass market.
The company, a resident of the Skolkovo Foundation’s IT cluster, estimates that its clocks will be ready for retail in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Europe in May 2017. Via a free Glance Clock app, the wall clocks will sync with both iOS and Android apps to display calls, updates from fitness trackers and notifications that Uber drivers are arriving, as well as event reminders. Users can set up the Glance Clock to show which notifications they want to see and when.
The clock will also display information about the weather and traffic conditions, as well as upcoming dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. It can sync with Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa, and other smart home devices. The Glance Clock can also display breaking news alerts and sports results, and even remind people when their favourite TV shows are starting. Each clock can work with up to five phones, using iBeacon technology and motion sensors to recognize who is in the room and show notifications accordingly.
Glance Clock was among seven Skolkovo startups presented at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January this year. It was also selected to take part in TechCrunch’s Hardware Battlefield, a launch competition for seed-stage hardware companies, on the sidelines of CES. Anton Zriashchev, the company's founder and CEO, is a graduate of the Skolkovo Foundation's mobile tech centre acceleration programme.