Through the Arrow Certification program, EverSleep is the latest Indiegogo campaign to receive $50,000 in Flash Funding from Arrow. Learn about their journey to production.
For many of us, getting a good night’s sleep often isn’t as simple as relaxing before bedtime and turning out the lights early. Some people seem to wake up feeling poorly no matter what kinds of tricks they try – but what do you do when everything you try still seems to fall short?
You turn to technology.
EverSleep, a product of founders Chris Crowley, David Pickerill and David Tobler, is a smart wearable that identifies the reasons why you’re not getting a good night’s sleep, and it tells you how to fix it.
Introducing Eversleep
EverSleep, ideated and created by a committed team of entrepreneurs, engineers and sleep specialists, is a truly innovative wearable sleep tracker that allows everyday people to benefit from leading sleep lab technology in their own homes.
“We bring the power of the sleep lab to the consumer,” says Crowley. “We have this super powerful, extremely high-end device that is one of its kind for the consumer space.”
The EverSleep device and its accompanying app track over 20 factors that affect sleep, including blood oxygen, respiratory function and pulse rate and provides in-depth data on the user’s sleep. More importantly, EverSleep goes beyond simply telling users how they’re sleeping – it provides them with helpful guidance based on those 20 measurements that helps them sleep better, including advice on how to correct any issues.
EverSleep “helps you sleep, it’s just that simple,” said Crowley. “We give coaching tips, very specific and very customized for you in plain English.”
Reaching the Ideal Audience with Indiegogo
In order to get EverSleep to the production stage, Crowley, Pickerill and Tobler opted to crowdfund through Indiegogo, a decision that gave them numerous advantages. In addition to raising funds for their operations, the team was able to identify interested buyers and determine that there really was a demand for Eversleep.
“It proves the market wants what you think they want,” explained Pickerill. “The fact that someone’s willing to drop down a fair amount of money to buy something they won’t get for a several months shows that the market really wants the product.”
The EverSleep team was able to grow their community through the Indiegogo platform, which gave them the attention their technology needed to make a successful market entry.
Working with Arrow
Another crucial factor of success is having a viable product backers know they can trust.
“One of the drawbacks is that people might not believe your campaign is real, or that your product is ever going to be realized,” said Pickerill.
To give their campaign a critical layer of credibility and to reassure backers that EverSleep would hit the market as a working product as promised, they decided to apply for Arrow Certification. Through the program, campaigns are able to leverage Arrow engineering expertise to fine tune their design and create the best version of their product possible.
Arrow has helped the team streamline their transition from development to manufacturing by identifying necessary components and helping them find alternatives when certain parts weren’t available. They were also able to take advantage of Arrow’s industry connections to get more favorable terms on their bill of materials (BOM) and fulfill component needs in mostly one location.
“I was able to pass the BOM off to them and they did all the footwork instead of me,” said Tobler. “It certainly saved us a lot of energy and effort with our small team.”
EverSleep also utilizes technology from TE Connectivity, an Arrow Certification Program tech provider. TE’s microUSB enables EverSleep to charge the main arm unit. When the device is fully charged, users can wear it to sleep without the need for extra power connections.
When a campaign is Arrow Certified, backers know that it has been carefully designed and crafted, and they are more confident the product will be a success. Tobler confirmed that certification gave potential backers the assurance they needed to commit to the product, and it helped encourage pre-orders early on. Based on EverSleep’s experience, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Arrow Certified campaigns raise on average 25% more funds and gain 60% more contributors than campaigns that are not certified upon launch.
Fine Tuning Eversleep
The team naturally wants EverSleep to be the best it can possibly be, and they are constantly developing new iterations of their app to give consumers exactly what they want and need. It’s not easy to simply say they are “done” making improvements, however.
According to Tobler, knowing when to finish modifying the latest version and deciding what to save for later versions is one of the most difficult parts of their journey to market. “[It’s like] trying to find a fuzzy gray line that says get to this point and you’re okay to ship,” he explained.
Despite this struggle, EverSleep has clearly resonated with early users who are quick to affirm the product’s effectiveness. One man claimed he finally felt well-rested after he discovered and addressed the breathing interruptions detracting from his quality of sleep.
More significantly, Eversleep is helping users identify serious health threats; the device successfully detected dangerously low oxygen levels in a woman suffering from complex lung disease and sleep apnea, and it helped identify a low pulse rate in a cardiac patient before it became life-threatening.
What It Means to Win $50,000
Recently, Eversleep was named the latest Flash Funding recipient, and their team received $50,000 to boost production.
Crowley, Pickerill and Tobler are grateful for being selected as the latest winner through the Arrow Certification program. The team intends to use the additional funds to increase their inventory and reach even more people with their life-changing technology. The funds also enable them to deliver units to Indiegogo backers and prepare for their full-release launch, set for this September.
Are you ready to give your production a boost? Join the Arrow Certification program and work with Arrow experts to improve your design and get to production faster. Arrow is giving away a total of $1,000,000 in flash funding in 2017, so don’t miss out!