Beddit, maker of sleep-tracking technology, has been so successful in its Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that Indiegogo has extended the 60-day fundraising period by two weeks, until Oct. 15. The Espoo, Finland-based company, which has U.S. offices in Saratoga, Calif., surpassed $400,000 this week, or five times its original $80,000 goal.
The extra money will help Beddit build out cloud-based data services for the consumer version of its nonintrusive sleep sensor, according to CEO Lasse Leppakorpi. Beddit sought the first $80,000 to bring the consumer product to market this fall, and Leppakorpi told MobiHealthNews that the company is on track to start shipping the sensor in late November or early December to Indiegogo supporters.
As of Wednesday, Beddit had orders for more than 4,200 units through the crowdfunding site, including from two "premium resellers" who bought packages of 100 sensors for $7,900. The $99 pre-order cost for a single unit is one-third off the expected retail price of $149.
Leppakorpi, who is currently visiting the U.S. from his native Finland, also said he had "really good response" from a presentation at the Launch Mobile & Wearables event in San Francisco on Tuesday (not affiliated with Health 2.0's event).
Like the existing Beddit professional system for sleep clinics and physical therapy, the new, consumer-grade sensor is embedded in a strap that goes under the user's bed sheet to measure quantity and quality of sleep, heart rate, breathing, movements and snoring, as well as ambient noise and light. The sensor connects via Bluetooth to an Android or Apple iOS app that analyzes sleep and provides coaching.
"You get almost the same quality of data as in a sleep lab," Leppakorpi said.
However, Leppakorpi said Beddit will not market the consumer-grade sensor and app as a medical or diagnostic device so the company does not have to seek Food and Drug Administration clearance. "We will make our claims very carefully," he said.
The plan is to sell the sensor online for the first few months after general release later this fall, then move into retail stores by the middle of 2014, according to Leppakorpi.
