Smart water bottle company Hidrate, based in Minneapolis, raised $700,000 in convertible debt and option financing from undisclosed investors on April 15.
This round of angel funding brings the company’s total raise to nearly $3 million since its founding in 2014.
The company’s Kickstarter campaign raised over $600,000, and the company produced 17,000 bottles within a year of founding. Hidrate Inc. participated in the Sprint Mobile Health Accelerator powered by Techstars in Kansas City in 2015. Hidrate co-founders are Ngoc Nguyen, Alexander Hambrock, and Coleman Iverson, all graduates of the University of Minnesota.
Nguyen studied MIS and finance and was Vice President of Marketing and Advisor at TEDxUMN. She consulted at Deloitte before co-founding Hidrate.
Hambrock graduated with a B.S. in mechanical engineering and worked as a designer for development of kitchen gadgets at Talisman Designs. He was a Sr. Product Design Specialist at Bracketron (car mounts and car mount accessories). He heads up the Hidrate’s company’s product development.
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Iverson holds a B.F.A. in graphic design and leads the company’s software and business development. He worked as Director of Operations and Lead Designer at Perfect Tix. He also designed promotional graphics for all ATMs for the 2014 Minnesota State Fair.
Hidrate produces BPA Free plastic water bottles that track consumption through a sensor in the bottle, and data syncs via Bluetooth to the Free Hidrate Spark app. The dishwasher safe water bottles have a battery-powered glow feature that provides a visual reminder to drink water to meet daily intake goals.
The bottles also integrate with fitness trackers such as Fitbit, Apple Watch & Health, Under Armour Record, Nokia Health Mate, and Google Fit. Users can set the app to receive reminders to hydrate.
The company is addressing the common problem of inadequate water intake in the U.S. Water is a critical component of overall health – transporting nutrients, ridding the body of waste, regulating body temperature, lubricating body tissues, and preserving cardiovascular function and cognitive performance.1 Dehydration can cause a marked decline in physical cognitive performance.
The table below provides daily water intake recommendations. Id.
Visit https://hidratespark.com/ to learn more about this company.
1. The Hydration Equation: Update on Water Balance and Cognitive Performance
Shaun Riebl-Brenda Davy – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4207053/
