Stone me! Pebble bags $7m

Pebble has raised $7m to develop two new versions of its smartwatch and a fitness tracker.

The biz that created a mass market for smartwatches back in 2013 with a Kickstarter appeal has returned to the site to create the Pebble 2, Time 2 and Pebble Core – and found immediate backing.

The biggest change in the new watches will be a heart rate monitor, bringing it in line with other smart watches but at a fraction of the cost. The black-and-white Pebble 2 will start from $99 and the color Time 2 from $169. By comparison, the Apple Watch is roughly five times more expensive, starting at $550.

The Pebble Core is a fitness tracker that works on cellular networks (so you don’t need to take your phone with you while running) and will stream music and work with a range of fitness apps. It costs from $69.

The company put its original Kickstarter goal at $1m. With a month still to go, it has raised nearly $7m and over 36,000 people have ordered one of the products. In its two previous campaigns the company got 69,000 and 78,000 backers, so the final funding for the new watches could reach $15m. ®