Consumer IoT Start-up Witworks Gets Investment from Fireside Ventures, Top Management of OLA, OYO
Bangalore-based consumer IoT company, Witworks today announced that it has raised a Seed investment round from Fireside Ventures, Investopad, P39 Capital and a syndicated group of angels. Founded by a group of IIT Kharagpur alumni, having previously worked at Google, ITC and Tata Group, Witworks is looking to tap into the nascent smart wearables market currently dominated by large technology players.
The funds will be used for development & launch of Blink, a wrist-wearable platform designed to provide access to contextual information and services on-the-go. With their own voice-enabled operating system called Marvin OS (based on Android), the Witworks team looks to have a seamless integration of hardware and software to deliver an impeccable experience for the user.
Somnath Meher, Co-Founder & CEO of Witworks, said, “Wearables, especially watches, are at a very interesting stage at this point of time. The technology is in place, and there's enough eagerness amongst consumers. But lack of relevant use-cases, ease of interaction and genuine design-empathy have prevented them from taking off. With a blend of technology and design, we are looking to solve that and make smart-wearables ubiquitous.”
Talking about the product philosophy of Blink Ankit DP, Co-Founder & CPO of Witworks, said, “Not being a mobile OEM gives us the liberty to start ground-up instead of replicating the features and UX of a mobile phone on the wrist. Marvin, being a watch-first OS, has a completely reimagined interaction and features for a small 1.4 inch display screen. ”
Chandrashekhar Iyer, Co-Founder & COO of Witworks, who leads the manufacturing from Shenzhen said, “We have partnered with the most advanced manufacturing facilities in the world to make Blink. At the same time, we are working very closely with traditional watchmakers with over 25 years of experience in watch craftsmanship to bring in their design sensibility.”
“Blink is our starting-point in the connected products space as we look to scale the platform over time. And we are excited to bring on board a set of investors who concur with our vision of building a new-age consumer technology brand.”, added Somnath.
Kanwaljit Singh, Managing Partner at Fireside Ventures, said, “Team Witworks has beautifully combined Design, technology and functionality to create Blink. It has the potential to redefine the role of a smart watch.”
Arjun Malhotra, Founding Partner at Investopad said, “The team has fundamentally reimagined how technology is impacting real life and applied this to Blink. In India, so much information is actually pushed outside of apps through notifications and – by leveraging this and distilling what is important – Blink actually simplifies a user's interaction with technology by removing an always-on dependence on it."
Manish Singhal said, "Witworks team has done an incredible job in re-imagining what can go on a wrist in Blink. Very excited to be partnering with them.”
Witworks, in its earlier avatar, has successfully designed, manufactured, and launched a simple innovative solution for earphone entanglement called Rewind of which ~40,000 units has already been sold.
Witworks is a Bangalore based consumer technology company that makes smart devices in the home and lifestyle space. Founded in 2014 by a team of IIT Kharagpur alumni, Witworks aims to provide a seamless experience to users through their connected devices and platform.
