Pebble Celebrates Latest Kickstarter Record at SXSW

Now well-accustomed to obliterating records, Pebble creators and consumers converged in Austin at a happy hour, the PebbJama Jam, to celebrate the company’s latest large victory: raising over $18 million dollars on Kickstarter for Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel, thereby becoming the best-selling Kickstarter project of all time.

Pebble Time is 20% thinner than the original Pebble (which itself raised a cool $10 million on Kickstarter) at just 9.5mm. But the size isn’t the only draw of Pebble Time; a new timeline interface, color e-paper display, microphone, and 7 day battery life have kept Kickstarter backers donating in droves. Pebble Time Steel is the chicest Pebble watch yet, boasting all of the features of the Pebble Time plus a 10 day battery life, a stainless steel case, and leather or stainless steel straps.

Perhaps not surprisingly, once consumers got a look at the Apple Watch, Pebble’s Kickstarter collected 167% more money per hour following the “Spring Forward” event in which the specifics of the Apple Watch were revealed.

Joseph Kristoffer, director of community and social at Pebble, told us at the PebbJama Jam that “Ever since the beginning of our [Kickstarter] campaigns, it’s been a love letter to our Pebblers. Nothing on our to-do list has ever happened without them.” He continued, “We believe that crowdfunding is the best way for hardware startups to begin and grow in the 21st century.”

As for the company’s second bout of massive success with Kickstarter, Kristoffer said with a smile: “What actually happened destroyed our ‘best case’ scenario — we continue to be overwhelmed and humbled by how great our community is.”

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