Bluesmart

Bluesmart Inc.
Private
Industry Smart Luggage
Founded 2013 (2013)
Founders Tomi Pierucci, Diego Saez-Gil, Alejo Verlini
Defunct May 1, 2018 (2018-05-01)
Headquarters New York City, United States
Area served
 Worldwide
Website bluesmart.com

Bluesmart Inc. was a global travel technology company that develops and produces Internet of Things travel products. The brand launched a carry-on suitcase, the Bluesmart One, on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo in 2014.[1] The campaign raised $2.2 million USD in contributions and became the highest crowdfunding project ever for a travel product at that time.[2]

On May 1, 2018, Bluesmart Inc. announced they would be shutting down operations, due to a ban by major US airlines on smart luggage with non-removable batteries.[3] The company's intellectual property was sold to Travelpro and the company's products will no longer be supported.[4]

History

Crowdfunding campaign

In October 2014, the company launched its first product on Indiegogo, asking for support of their campaign - offering pre-orders of their product as rewards.[5] The company met its goal in 2 hours and broke records in the Hardware category by pre-selling 10,000 units to 114 countries and collecting more than $2.2 million USD in contributions.[6] In November 2014, while their extended Indiegogo campaign was still ongoing, the company was selected by Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator Y Combinator to be part of its program.[7]

Production of the first smart carry-On

After Bluesmart Inc.'s manufacturing prototype passed its first reliability tests in June 2015, they set up a Mass Production division and local team in China which quickly grew to 15 employees. Bluesmart Inc. began shipping what would be known as the Bluesmart One in August 2015.[8]

Products

In late 2015, the brand released Bluesmart One.[9]

In 2016, the brand released the premium Bluesmart Black Edition carry-on.

In June 2017, Bluesmart Inc. introduced its Series 2 products including the Bluesmart Cabin, Check, Laptop Bag and Passport Pouch.[10]

Bluesmart Inc. was awarded the Red Dot Best of the Best Design Award category.[11]

See also

  • Airbus Bag2Go, a similar concept announced in 2013
  • Delsey, who have announced a similar product

References

  1. ↑ https://www.engadget.com/2014/10/20/bluesmart-connected-luggage-indiegogo-campaign/
  2. ↑ http://www.tnooz.com/article/how-bluesmart-became-most-successful-crowdfunding-ever/
  3. ↑ O'Kane, Sean (1 May 2018). "Bluesmart shuts down after airlines ban smart luggage". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  4. ↑ Heater, Brian (1 May 2018). "Bluesmart sells assets to Travelpro following smart luggage ban". TechCrunch. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  5. ↑ https://techcrunch.com/2014/11/17/bluesmart-indiegogo/
  6. ↑ https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bluesmart-world-s-first-smart-connected-carry-on/x/8655534
  7. ↑ https://techcrunch.com/2015/01/23/yc-backed-bluesmart-raises-2-million-for-its-self-tracking-suitcase/
  8. ↑ "Our Most Important Milestone So Far: We Started to Ship!". Bluesmart. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  9. ↑ "Bluesmart: World's First Smart, Connected Carry-On". Indiegogo. November 20, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  10. ↑ https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bluesmart-series-2-smart-luggage-system-travel/
  11. ↑ http://red-dot.de/pd/online-exhibition/work/?lang=en&code=15-01401-2016&y=2016&c=169&a=0
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