Misfit Wearables

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Misfit Wearables
Subsidiary
Industry Consumer electronics
Founded October 14, 2011; 12 years ago (2011-10-14)
Number of locations
 3
Key people
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  • Sonny Vu (President, CEO, Co-Founder)
  • John Sculley (Co-Founder)
  • Sridhar Iyengar (Co-Founder)
Products
Parent Fossil Group
Website misfit.com

Misfit Wearables, Inc, also known as Misfit, is an American consumer electronics company founded in 2011, specializing in wearable technology that utilizes sensors and home automation products.[1][2][3] Misfit's wearable activity trackers are unique in design, and count sleep, calories, and basic steps that can be synced to a mobile app on a compatible smartphone.[4][5][6]

Misfit was co-founded by Sonny Vu, Sridhar Iyengar and John Sculley.[7][8] Vu and Iyengar previously co-founded AgaMatrix, a company that made the iBGStar, the first FDA approved iPhone medical device.[1][9][10] John Sculley is a former Apple CEO,[1] and Vu is the current President and CEO.[11]

In November 2015, Misfit was acquired for $260 million by Fossil Group.[12]

History

Misfit Wearables was founded in October 2011.[13] Its name honors Steve Jobs, who died the day the company was founded.[2][3] It was inspired by the 1997 commercial which debuted Apple's "Think Different" slogan: "Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes."[10]

Misfit Wearables' first product, Shine, launched via an Indiegogo campaign in 2012.[3][9] The campaign reached its goal of $100,000 within ten hours, and raised $846,675 in its campaign that lasted just over two months.[4][9] The co-founders used the crowdsourcing campaign to get feedback about the product and the market for activity trackers and wearable technology.[14]

In April 2012, Misfit raised $7.6 million in its Series A funding.[1][4] In December 2013, Misfit secured $15.2 million in Series B funding for research and development of products that are expected to be released in 2014.[15] The Series B funding round was headed by Li Ka-shing's Horizons Ventures and joined by Translink Capital and The Coca-Cola Company. Previous investors including Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, Max Levchin and IncTank also participated in the company’s series B round.[4][7]

The company released Misfit Flash, a water resistant fitness band with battery life of about 6 months, in November 2014. It lacks a heart rate monitor. It's priced in the range of $50 (now down to $30).[16] Later that year, a health insurance company offered discounts to customers who reach exercise goals set by the company, as measured by a Misfit band.[17]

In January 2015, Misfit announced they are moving beyond fitness to home automation and smartphone controls. Users of Misfit's Flash and Shine wearable will be able to control light bulbs, door locks, thermostats, and home entertainment centers from their wearable device.[18] In April 2015, the company launched the Misfit 2.0 app update which included integrations of other applications such as Spotify and Yo, and the ability to sync with the company’s home automation products like Beddit.[19][20]

In November 2015, Misfit was acquired by Fossil Group for $260 million. Following the acquisition, Misfit announced the release of Ray, a jewelry-like activity tracker,[21] and Specter Bluetooth earbuds--the company's first headphones product.[22]

Partnerships

Misfit partnered with Coca-Cola to launch Coca-Cola Red Shine activity trackers for the company’s North American rewards program. They were also behind the Coca-Cola summer 2013 campaign “Get the Ball Rolling.” In 2014, Misfit partnered with Coke’s hospitality program for the 2014 Olympic Games by distributing Shines to Olympians, VIP guests, and fans along the Olympic Torch Relay.[23]

After Victoria’s Secret launched its VS Sport line, the women’s clothing and lingerie company partnered with Misfit to produce a VS-inspired pink Shine.[24][25]

In 2015, Misfit announced a partnership with Swarovski to launch a Swarovski Shine Collection that combines Swarovski’s crystal jewelry with Misfit’s Shine. The line has two wearable products, one of which is the first solar-powered activity tracker produced by Misfit. The wearables are both waterproof and the line also has nine additional accessories all jointly designed by both companies.[26][27]

Misfit partnered with Speedo in 2015 to release the Speedo Shine, a water resistant activity tracker that can monitor a swimmer's laps in a pool, as well as other daily activities and sleep.[28]

Products

Shine

The Shine is the flagship product produced by Misfit. It is an activity tracker, made of aircraft grade aluminum that gives users insights into how much they are moving and sleeping.[14][29] Misfit Wearables released a companion iPhone app to track fitness goals to coincide with Shine's launch.[30][31] In December 2013, Misfit released its Shine Android app.[4][5] Shine is capable of tracking a variety of activities including walking, running, cycling, swimming and sleeping.[2][14] Shine also tracks sleep depth. Shine is about the size of two quarters and can be worn in a variety of ways, including a wristband, necklace or attached to clothing via a magnetic clip.[30][32] It is water resistant up to fifty meters and does not require charging.[32][33]

In November 2015, Shine 2 was launched. The second generation device is thinner than its predecessor, has a different type of lights on its face, and maintains the same features and battery life.[34]

Flash

The Flash is the second activity tracker product produced by Misfit. It is made of soft touch plastic that come in seven colors. The Flash is a lower-priced and more casual wearable compared to the Shine, but has similar capabilities such as tracking steps, sleep, cycling and calories burned. Initial versions were labelled as being "Waterproof" and listed swimming as a trackable activity, however later versions are "Water Resistant" and no longer support swim tracking. The activity information is also paired with a mobile app.[35][36] In July 2015, Misfit launched the Link, a squeezable clicker that connects to the Misfit app, becoming a remote control for the applications functions such as pausing a song.[37][38]

Connected Home

Misfit has several smart home products such as the Beddit Sleep Monitor, a sleep-monitoring strip that fits over a mattress, as well as the Bolt Smart Bulb, a wirelessly-connected color-changing light bulb.[39] The Bolt Smart Bulbs also function as alarm clocks that can be connected to Misfit’s sleep-monitoring devices such as Shine, Flash or Beddit. The lightbulbs support color combinations that create light-scapes resembling sunsets, sunrises, bright days, or other scenes.[40]

Misfit Home includes a mobile app for iOS and Android operating systems as well as additional smart-home capabilities such as wireless controls for lights, locks and thermostats.[41]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ http://www.cnet.com/products/misfit-flash/
  17. ↑ Get fit and get paid NBC News,2014 8 Dec
  18. ↑ Jared Newman, PC World. “Misfit moves beyond fitness with home automation and smartphone controls.” January 28, 2015. February 3, 2015.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Misfit’s new Ray tracker is a legitimately good-looking wearable Lauren Goode, January 5, 2016, The Verge, retrieved February 6, 2016
  22. ↑ Misfit's first headphones are a pretty pair of wireless earbuds Sean O'Kane, January 6, 2016, The Verge, retrieved February 10, 2016
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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