Hello (company)

Hello was an American technology company that sold sleep tracking devices and a sleep tracking application to help monitor sleep.[1][3] The company was founded in August 2012 and shut down in June 2017.

Hello
Type of businessTechnology, Sleep tracking
FoundedAugust 28, 2012
DissolvedJune 2017
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, US[1]
CEOJames Proud
URLhello.is at the Wayback Machine (archived January 28, 2017)
Native client(s) oniOS, Android[2]

History

Hello was founded on August 28, 2012[4][5] by Thiel Fellow and CEO James Proud.[6][7]

A successful Kickstarter campaign from Hello in 2014 raised $2.4 million from more than 19,000 backers, making it one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns of all time.[8][9][10] A preliminary financing round from Silicon Valley backers raised another $10.5 million.[9][11] In June 2015, the company raised $40 million in a financing round from Temasek Holdings and Hello was valued between $250 million and $300 million at the time.[11] Other backers included Facebook Messenger chief David Marcus, Facebook's virtual reality vice president Hugo Barra, Facebook executive Dan Rose, former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, and Spotify's head of special projects, Shakil Khan.[3][5]

Sense

Hello spent over a year developing a wearable sleep tracking device, but the company ultimately decided on creating a bedside device instead because Proud thought customers would be more likely to keep using the product.[3][5]

Hello released their sleep tracker, Sense, on February 24, 2015;[12] 21,000 units were sold during its launch.[13] The Sense product includes a bedside device, a "Sleep Pill" that tracks a user's sleep by clipping onto a pillow, and a sleep tracking app.[3][14] Sense has sensors that track temperature, light, sound and allergen particle data[14] and can also play sounds to help the user fall asleep.[15] The product gives the user a sleep score every night and wakes the user up at the right point in their sleep cycle.[14] On November 1, 2016, the firm released a voice enabled version of the Sense sleep tracker.[16][17]

Shut down

While trying to look for a buyer, Proud announced on June 12, 2017, in a blog post on Medium that Hello would be shutting down[1][7][18] and the company laid off most of their employees that same day.[5] Hello was also reportedly unable to pay its bills.[9] The company said they were in talks with Fitbit for them to acquire the company, but failed to reach a deal.[5] According to BBC News and Buzzfeed News, Hello shut down due to a lack of consumer demand for Sense, unenthusiastic reviews for the product, and competition from bigger brands.[3][19]

Although Hello shut down in June 2017, the company's website, Hello.is, remained online until January 2018.[20]

References
  1. Lynley, Matthew (2017-06-12). "Sense sleep tracker maker Hello is shutting down". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  2. "Sense is a glowing sphere that watches over you while you sleep". The Verge. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  3. Kelion, Leo (June 13, 2017). "Hello's sleep-tracking Kickstarter hit collapses". BBC News. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  4. "HELLO INC". OpenCorporates. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
  5. Primack, Dan; Kokalitcheva, Kia (June 12, 2017). "Sleep monitoring startup Hello is seeking a savior". Axios. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  6. Corbyn, Zoë (2014-12-10). "Sense: A gadget to change the way we sleep". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  7. Marwan, Samar. "Peter Thiel Fellow James Proud Shuts Down Sleep Tracking Startup, Hello". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  8. Manjoo, Farhad (2015-02-24). "Mysteries of Sleep Lie Unsolved (Published 2015)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
  9. Savov, Vlad (June 13, 2017). "The dysfunctional Sense sleep-tracking ball sinks the company set up to sell it". The Verge. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  10. Nuñez, Michael (June 13, 2017). "Overhyped sleep tracker backed by Peter Thiel is on its death bed". Mashable. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  11. "Sense Sleep Tracker Maker Hello Valued Between $250M And $300M In Latest Funding Round". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  12. "This 23-Year-Old Is Taking on Nike and Apple With a Crowdfunded Sleep Tracker". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  13. "Meet the scientist who dreams of fixing your sleep". Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  14. Tilley, Aaron. "Gadgets We Love: Hello Sense". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  15. Belvedere, Matthew J. (2017-03-19). "How a 25-year-old CEO and Peter Thiel disciple turns sleep into a $250 million dream". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  16. "Hello's 'Sense' sleep sensor gets voice controls". Engadget. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
  17. "Hello launches a voice-enabled Sense bedside sleep tracker for $149". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  18. Proud, James (June 12, 2017). "Goodbye, Hello". Medium. Archived from the original on December 17, 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  19. M. Lee, Stephanie; Mac, Ryan (December 27, 2017). "These 13 Startups And Products Didn't Make It Through 2017". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  20. "Hello". Hello. 2018-01-01. Archived from the original on 2018-01-01. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
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