We knew Pebble's recent Kickstarter endeavor was doing well. Earlier this month the Pebble Time became the most successful Kickstarter product ever when it passed the $13.4 million mark. Now, the funding period is over and Pebble Time has raised a total of $20,338,986 from 78,471 backers. The initial goal was $500,000.
A hard record to beat
The original Pebble smartwatch was also launched through Kickstarter in 2012, and it remains the third most-funded project in Kickstarter's history. But because Pebble now has more than 100 employees and almost $26 million in outside funding, the Time's Kickstarter always seemed to be more about hype than money. Almost as soon as it launched, the Pebble Time had already broken a Kickstarter record by surpassing the $1 million mark in just 49 minutes.
So, $20 million isn't really a surprise, but it sure is a lot of money. The watches are scheduled to begin shipping in May.