Ube Launches Crowdfunding Campaign To Support Smart Dimmer
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Disruptive technologies and the emerging crowdfunding platform are becoming more commonplace as not only a marketing and finance tool, but also changing the dynamics of how energy is distributed.
Enter Austin, Texas-based company Ube, which launched its Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for itsr award-winning “smart” dimmer.
Unlike in the past where consumers would have to manually shut off their lights, this new product harnesses the power of internet technology to give consumers another energy efficiency option in the market. Customers can disconnect their previous dimmer or light switch, and then install their Ube smart dimmer. Once installed, the new smart dimmer is easily detected by the household WiFi system, which allows users to control the type of lighting they want via a mobile phone app.
While this dimmer has just been released, there are different types of lighting modules that should please everyone.
If you are in a dinner mood, you can set your lighting function in the “dinner” mode. Feeling like a party? If the dinner mode doesn’t fit your need for the occasion, the smart dimmer will allow you to change it to “party” lighting for those festive events.
Homeowners can also choose the “all on” or “all off” modes if they choose too, and if someone is going out for an extended period, the “away” mode gives the perception the lights are on or off at certain times of the day. A good feature if someone is on a vacation or a business trip.
All types of lights based on 120V dimmable bulbs — including LED, incandescent, fluorescent — can be controlled by the new dimmer.
Users can also check up how much energy they save, thanks to sub reporting from each dimmer for each light switch. This will be a handy tool to show homeowners what areas of lighting to cut back on.
Prices are between $49 an $69 and are available to anyone in North America, as the product will ship in June 2013. However, customers can take advantage of a discount during the crowdfunding campaign.
Last October, the company won the $1 million IDG prize and Fall 2012 DEMO People’s Choice Award. The convention is a showcase of emerging technologies, and features people from technology, media, and venture capital sectors. Past winners from this competition included E*Trade VMWare and Tivo.
Ube is hoping to see similar success using the crowdfunding platform that others have had in launching their products. In January, Solar Mosiac successfully sold out four solar projects within 24 hours, totalling $313,000.
It’s easy to see why Ube would use crowdfunding to get their product out in the market, as a disruptive marketing and financing tool that bypasses traditional formats of commerce and boosts the sharing economy at the same time. Hopefully more products using this format to launch will continue to be more commonplace in the future, while helping to provide clean tech alternatives to consumers.
Main Source: PR Newswire
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