Bluesmart, a San Francisco, CA-based developer of a smart, connected luggage, raised $11.5m in funding.
Backers included Amadeus IT Group, Cota Capital, Western Technology Investments (WTI), Fairhaven Capital, Fenox Ventures, FundersClub, PejmanMar Ventures, Yunqui Partners, Y Combinator, Flight VC’s Gil Penchina, YC’s partner Michael Seibel, MercadoLibre’s ($MELI) founder Marcos Galperin, Haystack’s Semil Shah and others.
The company intends to use the funds to enter the market, accelerate production, invest in research and development, and finance branding initiatives.
Led by CEO and co-founder Diego Saez-Gil, Bluesmart provides a cabin suitcase that can be tracked anywhere in the world, powered by 3G-connectivity (in partnership with Telefonica), allowing users to recover their lost bags from airlines. The smart suitcase also features a Bluetooth-enabled remote lock that lets users lock and unlock their bags from their smartphones and that locks automatically when the bag is separated from the user. It also includes a built-in battery charger and a weight sensor that allows users to avoid paying extra baggage fees or being forced to check for extra weight.
The round and follows a $2.2m Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. All 15,000 products pre-ordered through Indiegogo, Amazon and on the company’s own site are expected to arrive to buyers in 110 countries by the end of 2015. As pre-order fulfillment completes, Bluesmart’s inaugural product will be available for real-time delivery through Amazon LaunchPad (with Prime eligibility) and at Bluesmart.com, with selected retailer partnerships to be announced soon.
FinSMEs
14/10/2015