Today, we are tickled to introduce the Hardware Battlefield 2015 participants. The 14 startups represent what we at TechCrunch feel are the most interesting, most promising early stage hardware companies being built. Whether drones, connected homes, robots or 3D printing are your fancy, we’ve got you covered with this batch.
Over the past month these companies have been working tirelessly to push that last run off the manufacturing line, get approved by the app store and prep their crowdfunding campaigns. They’ll have the chance to showcase all their hard work onstage, presenting in front of startup experts including Rob Coneybeer of Shasta Ventures, James Park of FitBit and Jenny Lawton of MakerBot. 50 Cent will also make an appearance as a judge, because CES.
We’ll be running three straight days of exciting presentations live from the CES parking lot. If you’re in Las Vegas, visit us at our tent out on the LVCC parking lot (Note: You don’t need a show pass to watch the proceedings in the tent.). Battlefield pitches are at 11am and 2pm on Tuesday and Wednesday and the finals take place at 1pm on Thursday.
In case you can’t make it to the live pitches, Battlefield companies will be showcasing in Eureka Park at Level 2, Sands Expo, Booth 75468.
This year, we’ve added a little twist. In addition to our pre-selected participants, startups showcasing in Eureka Park can compete for our “Wild Card” spot. One company will be selected by audience and editor choice and will have the opportunity to pitch our judges, compete for $50K and the Metal Man Trophy on Wednesday afternoon. You can submit your vote for the wild card here hardwarebattlefield.beta.techcrunch.com.
And so we present the 2015 Hardware Battlefield participants.
Tuesday 11AM
Voltera l www.volterainc.com l Alroy Almeida, Co-Founder l James Pickard, Co-Founder l Jesus Zozaya, Co-Founder l Katarina Ilic, Head of R&D
The Voltera V-One is a circuit board prototyping printer that enables hardware professionals and hobbyists to cut down their development time from months to days, drastically reducing their time to market. Custom circuits, just press print!
Location: Kitchener, ON, Canada l Date Founded: 6/06/2013 l USD Raised: $25K
Peeple l peeple.io l Chris Chuter, Founder & CEO l David Genet, Founder & Chief Designer l Craig Sullender, Founder & CTO
Introducing Peeple: the elegant, compact, and easy-to-use caller ID for your front door. Peeple is a smart camera that attaches to existing peepholes and easily connects to home Wi-Fi to identify, inform, screen, and alert people to any outside presence. Say goodbye to the days of worrying about what time the kids got home, if the package arrived, or if there’s a potential intruder at the rental property. When the house is empty, Peeple is home.
Location: Austin, TX USA l Date Founded: 9/2014 l USD Raised: $50K
SkySpecs l http://www.skyspecs.com l Danny Ellis, CEO & Founder l Tom Brady, COO & Founder l Sam DeBruin, Founder
Guardian, by SkySpecs, is a collision avoidance system for drones that unlocks new and exciting applications in the airspace near STUFF. Guardian combines sensors, computation, and SkySpecs’ proprietary algorithms in a platform-independent module that can be equipped on any drone.
Location: Ann Arbor, MI USA l Date Founded: 3/29/12 l USD Raised: $1M
Current Labs l www.getfishbit.com l Nathan Levine, Founder & CEO l Brac Webb, Founder & Head of Hardware l Brandon Anderson, Founder & Head of Software l Alex Uribe, Founder & Head of Community
Current Labs designs products that monitor and control aquatic systems. FishBit, our first product, is a connected device that helps aquarium owners track changes in their tank’s water, review actionable insights, and take preventative action all from their smartphone. For saltwater aquarium owners, FishBit radically simplifies aquarium ownership and maintenance.
Location: San Francisco, CA USA l Date Founded: 4/28/2014 l USD Raised: Undisclosed
Tuesday 2PM
Sereneti Kitchen l www.sereneti.com l Haidee Chen, Co-Founder & Head of Marketing l Helen Chen, Co-Founder l Jesse Rosalia, Co-Founder & CTO l Timothy Chen, CEO
Automating cooking at home for busy individuals. Think Keurig for cooking fresh food using robotics. A consumer procures ingredients associated with a specific recipe, loads each ingredient tray into a kitchen-sized appliance, then pushes one button to start cooking. Hot meals are prepared conveniently without typical labor associated with cooking.
Location: Atlanta, GA USA l Date Founded: 5/16/2014 l USD Raised: $150K bootstrapped
LyteShot l www.lyteshot.com l Mark Ladd, CEO & Co-Founder l Tom Ketola, CTO & Co-Founder
LyteShot is a sensor-based mobile gaming platform comprised of LyteShot’s mobile app system, the Lyter handheld device, the LytePuck sensor, and a suite of 3D printable peripherals which work with a smartphone or Heads Up Display (HUD) to deliver a wide range of live-action, augmented reality, role-playing games and more.
Location: Chicago, IL USA l Date Founded: 12/26/2012 l USD Raised: $650K
Sentri l http://sentri.me l Yen Tung, Co-Founder & CEO l Wendy Qi, Co-Founder & Marketing Lead l Ray Hsieh, Co-Founder & Product Lead l Rical Hsieh, Co-Founder & Engineering Lead
Sentri protects what matters with a complete home monitoring and automation solution, giving you the power to know and control your home from one single destination. Over time, Sentri learns from your habits to deliver personalized alerts straight to your smartphone, no matter where you are.
Location: San Francisco, CA USA l Date Founded: 3/27/2014 l USD Raised: $125K
LookSee Labs Inc. l www.lookseelabs.com l Per Ljung, CEO
looksee is the next generation in fashion and technology with an always-on display wrapped around a modern design bracelet. The battery life is up to two years. Users can update their bracelet’s image from the looksee app to reflect the time, context, style, location or mood of their choice for the ultimate in self-expression.
Location: Oakland, CA USA l Date Founded: 1/12/2014 l USD Raised: Undisclosed
Wednesday 11AM
Sutro l www.mysutro.com l Ravi Kurani, CEO l Amanda Nagai, COO
Sutro is a water testing and data analytics company. Our first product, the Sutro Pool, is a sensor-driven, connected, learning device to right-size your water chemistry. It automates testing, ships you chemicals when you need them, and tells you how and when to administer them – keeping you and your family safe, and saving you time and money.
Location: San Francisco, CA USA l Date Founded: 1/1/2014
Branto Inc. l http://branto.co/ l Max Mets, Founder l Nick Bogun, Founder & CTO
Branto is a portable smart home which requires minimal installation. Straight out of the box it is: a security and video-call camera (night vision and 360’ rotation); a universal remote for TV, air conditioner, and other smart appliances; online radio and music streamer.
Location: Dover, DE USA l Date Founded: 11/22/2013 l USD Raised: $800K
Fogo Digital l http://fogo.io l Tyler Gilbert, Co-Founder & Principal/Electrical Engineer l Dustin Bouch, Co-Founder & Principal/Mechanical Engineer
Fogo Digital builds smart connected outdoor gadgets. Our flagship product is the Fogo, a durable waterproof smart flashlight with GPS and a digital radio (among other goodies). It is perfect for hiking, biking, camping, hunting, climbing, fishing, and all things outdoors/apocalyptic.
Location: Salt Lake City, UT USA l Date Founded: 12/1/2014 l USD Raised: $0
NapTime l http://www.naptime.technology l Jules Thuillier, Founder & CEO l Clément Duffau, Founder & Lead Developer l Tom Guillermin, Founder & Marketing Director
NapTime is a silent baby monitor designed for parents. Our goal is to improve their sleep quality and help them enjoying as much as possible the arrival of a child. We achieve this by using vibrating wristbands, awaking only one parent at a time when their baby cries!
Location: Montreal, QC Canada l Date Founded: 12/3/2014 l USD Raised: Undisclosed
Wednesday 2PM
Robotbase l http://robotbase.com l Duy Huynh, Founder & CEO
Robotbase is a startup that build affordable, intelligent, and practical robots. The initial model, Gen X, is the world’s first Personal Robot. The Personal Robot is an intelligent machine that can see, move, hear, understand, speak, and think. It has many talents including Security Guard, Photography, Storyteller, Home Automation, etc that can be extended with our open API.
Location: New York, NY USA l Date Founded: 10/2013 l USD Raised: $250K
Switchmate Inc. l http://www.myswitchmate.com l Robert Romano, Founder & CEO l Daniel Peng, Founder l Ashish Dua, Founder
Switchmate is making home automation simple, starting with smart lighting. Switchmate’s sleek, retro-fit design snaps onto existing light switches to make them smart-phone enabled in seconds. Using Bluetooth Low Energy or existing WiFi networks, Switchmate gives you peace of mind no matter where you are. Smart has never been so simple.
Location: Palo Alto, CA USA l Date Founded: 4/3/2014 l USD Raised: Undisclosed