Boston-based Quitbit launched its smartphone-connected lighter for cigarette tracking and smoking cessation through a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter this week. The five-member founding team includes two former Zeo employees and counts former Zeo co-founder and CTO Ben Rubin as an advisor. While early supporters can pre-order a Quitbit for between $69 and $89 and get it in December, if the campaign goes well, the company aims to begin selling the device next year for about $149.

Quitbit founders Ata Ghofrani and Kuji Nakano met while studying for their graduate degrees at Brown University. While at school the two already actively tracked their sleep with Zeo and their activity levels with other devices, but had trouble using health tracking apps to curb their smoking habit. Ghofrani told MobiHealthNews in a recent interview that while he was generally aware of about how often he smoked, he didn't really know, and in order to reduce your cigarette count, you need to accurately track it.

"The first idea was a package for cigarettes and each time you removed a cigarette it would track it, but we quickly iterated because we realized the lighter would be the easiest way," Ghofrani said. "It's the way with the least friction for someone who wants to reduce their smoking, because it doesn't require a new device. We just replace your lighter with our lighter, and then you get all the benefits of being more mindful of your smoking habits." 

The Quitbit lighter has its own built-in display that tells users how long it's been since their last cigarette and how many they have left for the day (if they set a limit). Since many smokers share lighters with friends or light a friend's cigarette for them, the device has a three minute window after a first light-up when it doesn't count subsequent uses. That way if the wind blows out a cigarette shortly after lighting it, it's not counting it twice either. It takes about 1.5 seconds to light a cigarette, according to Ghofrani, so the lighter only registers a light if the user hits that threshold. Otherwise the lighter doesn't count it, assuming the user was just playing with their lighter.

The companion smartphone app, which already is available in an early form in the AppStore, includes a number of features that many other smoking cessation apps offer today. It includes calculators for how much money the user is saving by cutting back on their smoking habit. It shows users how close they are to reaching their goals. It also enables users to share their progress with friends on Facebook and Twitter. An Android app is in the works too.

If a Quitbit user wants to limit themselves to a certain number of cigarettes a day, the Quitbit lighter can help enforce the rule. It can be programmed to stop lighting up after a set number of cigarettes for the day. While the smoker could reach for another lighter, Ghofrani argues that small barriers like that can help to break a habit.

"There is so much out there related to smoking cessation right now," he said. "That's good and bad for us. We've actually gone out, especially when we were just starting out in Providence, and tried to work with some of these government agencies that work on this problem. Because there is so much out there right now, government agencies are reluctant to work with programs that are not clinically proven."

Quitbit has no immediate plans to seek clinical validation but is instead focusing on smokers who have an interest in tracking their habit. Despite the name, Ghofrani said Quitbit is not only for those looking to quit. He likened the device to a weight scale, which is not just for people who are trying to lose weight.

Since its founding, Quitbit has already participated in two startup accelerator programs: First, it participated in Providence-based Betaspring and it just completed a four-month program in China-based, hardware-focused accelerator Haxlr8r. During Betaspring Quitbit developed prototypes and launched a pilot program. During that time Ghofrani successfully quit smoking himself using a prototype of the device. Following the first accelerator program the company began to raise a seed round -- it pulled in a little more than $150,000 -- before decided to cut the round short so they could join the Haxlr8r program in China.

While many (most?) health-related hardware startups that have launched via crowdfunding campaigns have failed to meet their estimate delivery dates, Ghofrani said that Quitbit is better positioned to deliver on time than most. His co-founder Kuji Nakano headed up Zeo's manufacturing and supply chain, so this isn't new ground for the team.

"That being said, whenever you are manufacturing something in China... issues come up and things happen," Ghofrani said.

And while Quitbit's name is reminiscent of a certain, well-known activity tracker company's, Ghofrani says that's a coincidence, and that the idea behind the name is that "Quitbit helps you quit bit by bit".