Pebble Struggles to Find Funding Following Apple Watch Launch

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Posted May 22, 2015 at 5:20am by iClarified

Smartwatch maker Pebble is reportedly in some financial trouble, according to sources close to the company. TechCrunch reports that Pebble is having difficulties maintaining its growth and has turned to investors for a $5 million loan and a $5 million line of credit. Unfortunately for Pebble, it seems that most Venture Capitalists are turning down the company's request for funds.

Pebble just launched a successful Kickstarter campaign back in February and raised over $20 million with over 75,000 backers for the new Pebble Time smartwatch. The company received about $18 million after Kickstarter fees, but despite its success, it still needs additional funding to maintain growth and "stay afloat."

The source also noted that many employees were not satisfied with the direction the company was headed, especially with competition intensifying as Apple, Google, and more enter the smartwatch category. On the other hand some employees were cautiously optimistic that things would turn around and the company would find funding.

“We’re a young company. The outlook for Pebble is very positive,” said a current employee. “It’s been a remarkable journey thus far.”

It will definitely be interesting to see how, or if, competitors respond to Apple Watch and how they still remain successful in such a rapidly growing category.

Pebble Struggles to Find Funding Following Apple Watch Launch

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King Rollo - May 25, 2015 at 10:29pm

Pebble are to watches what Walkman was to iPod.. Goodbye pebble. :)

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muzicabuna - May 25, 2015 at 6:32am

Pebble should get a touch screen and keep the display b&w, so it preserves longer battery life. Without a touch screen their smart watch is not easy to use. This will move many people away from them.

bigjiba - May 23, 2015 at 3:53am

they are charging too much! if they bring their plastic model down to 50 or less and bring down the regular version to 100usd then they can do better as people can buy them as sort of gag gifts. it's 150usd for a pebble steel on sale. i bought a moto360 for 180usd and it's 10 times more beautiful than the pebble steel and 5 times more beautiful than an apple watch. it just looks cheap and they are charging too much. maybe they should think about something cheap like a simple fit bracelet with the color ink display. i can't really think of the answer for them. just that they are charging too much because of the competition. their best bet probably is to hope to get acquired by one of the big companies. the ceo buy some kneepads and visit some companies. i seriously gave it a hard look but it didn't even offer heart rate for the price. on the other hand, if they can make it completely water proof as in submersible for long periods, that would differentiate it. make it a real sports smartwatch. or they need to start partnering with companies. for example with go pro. they already have the app so sell go pro a big discount so they can package the go pro with the basic watch as a full package. really i hate pebble for asking money from crowd funding again, it's really so greedy of them. maybe the ceo should do the 1 dollar salary and show how much he loves the company.

LDMc - May 23, 2015 at 3:47am

Boy, everyone is so quick to write off Pebble. I think they have positioned themselves just right. The Apple Watch will just seem too expensive and too complicated for some. When I realized that I could duplicate the most important functions of the Apple Watch for 1/3 the cost, seemed the right thing for me. I'm on board with a Pebble Time Steel and wishing them well. Don't listen to the haters.

matrixmaniac - May 22, 2015 at 4:53pm

Looks like the big bad shark will eat the nice little clown fish... Even though the pebble is a no-nonsense product that does everything you really need much better than even apple's watch, it lacks glamor and bling-bling that people need to throw their money at... It's a shame and i hope pebble will escape in the last second.

gamerscul9870 - May 22, 2015 at 4:56pm

Pebble once did it better but with what apple watch can do clearly owns pebble. Doesn't really compare.

alfaruco - May 22, 2015 at 4:18pm

I've owned Pebble Steel and it's great !... looking forward for the Time piece... Pebble's Customer Service in my experience has been outstanding and even better than Apple to me... It's understandable situation, specially competing with Apple, but they've done an impressive job as startup and stay where they are so far... My respect and appreciation to Pebble...

Kathy - May 22, 2015 at 3:36pm

What a shame pebble watch is awesome!!!

gamerscul9870 - May 22, 2015 at 1:43pm

Until now!

SimonSays - May 22, 2015 at 1:09pm

Sooner or later, they will go the way of the dodo.

gamerscul9870 - May 22, 2015 at 10:29am

They got owned. They're better off making anything else from here on now.

yas9in - May 22, 2015 at 10:24am

Yeah, they're definitely done for. there were small companies making MP3 players before the iPod too, where are they now?