Ding, a London startup that developed a smart doorbell, has raised £269,664 on crowdfunding platform Seedrs.
The company’s doorbell product connects to a homeowner’s phone. The homeowner can choose to receive a phone call when their doorbell is pressed, so even if they are out of the house, they can speak with the visitor via the doorbell’s inbuilt speaker and microphone.
Ding beat its crowdfunding goal of £250,000 and finally closed the round yesterday, giving up 9.06% equity in return for the investment.
The new funds will be used to grow the Ding team and scale up production in order to meet increasing demand from retailers.
“We’re excited to have our community be part of growing Ding, and be such an important part of our story,” said Avril O’Neil, co-founder and creative director at Ding.
Founded in 2015, the startup won an innovation award from the Design Council, took part in John Lewis’ JLAB accelerator programme in 2016 and completed a Kickstarter campaign that raised over 220% of its initial goal.
The firm has also received a letter from John Lewis stating its intent to stock the product.
“From a John Lewis perspective, it’s the perfect product. We are really excited about new innovation coming our way. Giving the boom we’re seeing around the smart home, we think Ding plays perfectly to that trend,” said Johnathan Marsh, buying director at John Lewis.