Ding[1], a London-based hardware startup, has raised more than £263,000 (~$345k) via the Seedrs equity crowdfunding platform as it works to get its first product — a wi-fi connected doorbell — to market this year.
It’s the second tranche of crowdfunding the team has taken in, following a Kickstarter[2] campaign that raised $111k in November 2016. They are also currently taking pre-orders for their smart doorbell via Indiegogo[3].
The founders originally specced out their idea for the product, in 2015, in order to enter a Design Council competition, going on to win some funding — which they put towards product development, working with an external product dev design office.
In 2016 they were also accepted onto the JLAB accelerator[4], run by UK retailer John Lewis — which they’re hoping will stock the device in future (they say they have a “letter of intent” from the company).
There’s somebody at the door…
While apartment buildings typically already have a hardwired intercom system so callers can be talked to and buzzed in without someone needing to go all the way downstairs, Ding is designed for people living in houses — which are less likely to have anything more high tech than an electric chime to alert a homeowner that someone is at their front door.
The main aim is therefore to save people from having to jump up and run to the door to see who it is every time the doorbell sounds. It also offers a way to customize and control how the doorbell can be used, via a companion app, and Ding’s team suggests, for example, that AirBnB hosts could make use of it to smooth the check-in process remotely.
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