Last May, the Pebble wristwatch broke records on Kickstarter when it became the start-up’s most funded project, raising $10.26 million from 69,000 people in just over a month. The Kickstarter campaign initially aimed to raise $100,000.
The demand for the customizable, smartphone-connected watch exceeded all expectations, including those of its creators, who now had to produce mass quantities of the item. They missed their initial September shipment date and delayed production indefinitely while providing consistent updates to its backers on its blog. The delays raised questions for Kickstarter itself about its ability to ensure that funded projects meet their deadlines - fully 84 percent of the company’s projects are shipped late.
Now, Pebble’s creators have announced that the much-anticipated item has entered mass production and they will start shipping 15,000 units per week starting on January 23rd to the people who were behind the initial funding for the project.
No word yet on when the clever watch might be available to the wider public.
Photo: Pebble
via [Fast Company]
