Today we’re thrilled to announce we’ve closed a $3 million seed financing round with the Foundry Group, to transform the way people keep themselves and those they love safe and connected with wearable technology.
This is not the Foundry’s Group’s first foray into hardware. Their portfolio includes other hardware successes (and emerging successes) such as FitBit, GlowForge, Modular Robotics, Sphero, TrackR and most recently, virtual reality startup Two Bit Circus.
Revolar was born out of a passion to keep our loved ones safe in a smart, modern way. Founder and CEO Jacqueline Ros created Revolar out of love for her little sister who was assaulted as a teenager. Jacqueline found herself wishing her sister had been able to simply press a button to call for help, so that’s exactly what she built.
Revolar is a discreet, wearable device that uses Bluetooth Smart™ to signal an alert to your loved ones via a text message and/or email message. You can wear Revolar under clothing or on a keychain, and if you ever need help, simply press Revolar and an alert message with your live location information is sent to your friends and family.
With one press Revolar sends a yellow alert, which lets your contacts know you don’t feel comfortable and want them to know your location. A rapid double press of Revolar sends a red alert, which tells your contacts you are in immediate danger and to get you help right away.
When we launch in early Q2 2016, we will be rolling out a 24/7 monitoring service. This optional service will allow users to pay an additional monthly fee to have their alerts responded to anytime, anywhere by professional monitoring centers. Our VP of Business Development, Colin McIntosh likens this feature to home security, “You can think of Revolar’s 24/7 monitoring as a lightweight, on-the-go version of home security.”
The closing of this financing round is the cherry on top of the traction we’ve garnered in 2015. In March we launched a successful Kickstarter campaign and raised $83,247 from 895 backers. In April we closed an angel round with FG Angles and won the top prize at CU Boulder’s New Venture Challenge. In May, we were accepted into Techstars Boulder, which we successfully graduated from on September 9, 2015 (check out our Demo Day pitch). In September we were awarded the Colorado Advanced Industries Grant by the State of Colorado. And most recently, we made the top 25 in Sir Richard Branson’s Extreme Tech Challenge competition.
“I know with Seth and the Foundry team, I have a group of people with incredible expertise and heart. Thanks to them having Revolar’s back, we are now in a position to build products that will have the backs of your loved ones and together we are well on our way to building a better world.” – Jacqueline Ros Revolar’s Founder & CEO
About Foundry:
Foundry Group is a venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage information technology, Internet, and software startups. In addition to providing the necessary venture capital to get a company up and running, Foundry Group is committed to leveraging their experience in starting and growing companies, expertise in the technology industry, and network of relationships to help great entrepreneurs turn great ideas into great companies. Foundry Group is based in Boulder, Colorado and invests in companies located across the United States. For more information, visit www.foundrygroup.com.
For more information or press inquiries, please contact Megan Espeland at Megan@revolar. com.