London-based smart doorbell startup Ding has hit a £250k funding goal on equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs, with its total funding now reaching £445k.
With a quarter of a million pounds and still counting, the ONN Studio project was sponsored by 209 investors in exchange for 9.50% equity. At the moment Ding’s pre-money valuation is £2.5 million. With 106% of funding gained, the equity offer has dropped to 9.06%.
But this is not the first success for Ding. Earlier in November 2016, the team raised £84,974 on Kickstarter from 845 backers and £96,607 on Indiegogo.
The smart doorbell is created to direct the ring to a smartphone. Via the phone connection, Ding allows its users to speak with people calling at the door wherever they are.
The company suggests that the product might be useful for Airbnb landlords who are often not inside the property when needing to check in their guests. There is also a silent mode available for those not wanting to be disturbed at a particular time.
Ding is designed to be a quite niche product, as it doesn’t allow any unlocking or lock-related functions.
Ding consists of two blocks: an exterior wireless button with a microphone and tiny speaker, and a chime for the interior. The device connects to a smartphone using Wi-Fi, making it possible to use it from any connected place globally.
The early version of Ding was available on Kickstarter for $119 (£90). Currently, customers can pre-order the device from Indiegogo starting from $139 (£106) for a single device.
ONN Studio was founded by entrepreneurs John Nussey and his wife Avril O’Neil in 2014. The company specialises in product design, development, and experimental electronics.
In other IoT news, iRobot chief executive Colin Angle has just announced that its robotic vacuum cleaner, Roomba, may be used to share data on people’s homes. The company is hoping to base its business strategy around data sharing.
