Spray-on caffeine absorbs through your skin

Harvard dropout and former Thiel fellow Ben Yu and venture capitalist Deven Soni have developed a product that gives folks the caffeine jolt they need by simply spraying it on their skin.

Soni and Yu (pictured below) launched an IndieGogo campaign today for Sprayable Energy, a colorless, odorless product that provides several hours of energy when sprayed onto the skin. The product is sprayable caffeine, which permeates the skins and enters circulation at a steady rate gradually over time, according to the company. The result is energy without the jitters or the subsequent crash, Yu and Soni say.

The startup company hopes to raise $15,000 through the IndieGogo campaign to develop the product line.

Each spray bottle, which is selling for $15, contains a two-week supply of energy or about 160 sprays. Each dose (four sprays) costs about $0.37, compared to the $3 to $4 cost of a frozen coffee, energy drink or energy shot, according to the company. Plus, Yu and Soni argue, their product only contains caffeine, not sugar, calories or other ingredients.

The product is safe as long as you're not allergic to caffeine and is used as directed, according to the company's marketing materials. There are no known side effects and it can be wiped off easily. There's also a saturation effect which prevents a caffeine overdose.

How It All Started

Yu and Soni met on a expedition vessel to Antarctica. The two, both aspiring entrepreneurs who had a lot in common, decided to work together to create something tangible that would help people, according to information on their company website.

They worked with Yu's father, who holds a PhD in chemistry and has several patents focused on how substances can be better absorbed in the skin, to develop a formulation for the product.

Photo: Sprayable Energy

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com