The Pebble smartwatch, a wristwatch that connects wirelessly to a smartphone to show updates like text messages, has raised more than $10 million on Kickstarter, a crowd-funding platform.
The project, which is the most-financed project of Kickstarter in its history, attracted 85,000 buyers and $10.1 million. The project has been so success that the founders decided to stop the funding-raising even though it still had another week to go before it was officially closed.
The project first went up on the Kickstarter site in late April and had a modest goal of raising $100,000 in a month. But in the first day, the watch met its goal and has climbed steadily ever since.
The watch has whipped people into such a frenzy because it features a sleek electronic paper display that is optimized for reading while in the sun. It is also waterproof and available in several colors, including white and red, and wearers can customize the interface with a variety of applications.
Eventually, the company said, they will sell the watches through a Web shop. But their first priority will be getting the first shipment of watches to their fans who financed the creation of the device through Kickstarter.
“We’ve thought a lot about this decision, and we feel it’s time,” wrote the company in an update on its Kickstarter project page. “You, our backers, were the first group of people to believe in Pebble, and we want to return our focus to creating the most awesome watch possible for you.”