Pebble was one of those startups that came about in, what I like to call, the golden age of fundraisers. The company’s smartwatches were pledged through Kickstarter campaigns, creating a Kickstarter record in the process, and went to become a major success. The company sold more than a million smartwatches back in the December of 2014. Unfortunately, it looks like it’s the end of the road for Pebble.
Digital health and fitness tracking company Fitbit has announced that it is buying key assets, including key personnel and intellectual property related to software and firmware development, from the smartwatch startup.
“With basic wearables getting smarter and smartwatches adding health and fitness capabilities, we see an opportunity to build on our strengths and extend our leadership position in the wearables category. With this acquisition, we’re well positioned to accelerate the expansion of our platform and ecosystem to make Fitbit a vital part of daily life for a wider set of consumers, as well as build the tools healthcare providers, insurers and employers need to more meaningfully integrate wearable technology into preventative and chronic care.”
– James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit
The acquisition is apparently somewhere less than $40 million. The company has been struggling to stay afloat financially for the past year, with the new Pebble Watch 2 being delayed as a result.
“However—due to various factors—Pebble is no longer able to operate as an independent entity. We have made the tough decision to shut down the company and no longer manufacture Pebble devices. This news has several major implications, and we hope to answer as many questions as possible here, in Kickstarter Update #17, and on our Support site.”
– Eric Migicovsky, Pebble founder and CEO.
The acquisition will hit a lot of existing Pebble users hard. For instance, warranty support is no longer available for Pebble watches. Instead, users can find out how to fix their watches on the forums and support page. Furthermore, official charging cables will no longer be shipped, users can instead opt to find them via third-party retailers.
However, Pebble is doing their best to smooth the process. Kickstarter backers who have not received their rewards will receive a full refund by December 16, 2016 to their credit cards. Furthermore, Pebble devices will continue working for the foreseeable future, though functionality or service quality may be reduced in the future.
