“This new round of funding provides Owlet with the backing to expand our reach into retail and international distribution, launch two new product lines and kickoff the largest infant health study ever conducted.”
You might know Owlet Baby Care as inventors of the Owlet Smart Sock, a baby sock that monitors an infant’s vital signs and notifies parents when anything is amiss. Now you may know Owlet Baby Care not only as the creators of the Owlet Smart Sock, but as the company who raised $15 million to bring these dreams to fruition.
“This new round of funding provides Owlet with the backing to expand our reach into retail and international distribution, launch two new product lines and kickoff the largest infant health study ever conducted,” said Owlet CEO Kurt Workman.
The funding is comprised of two different portions. $1.5 million is coming via a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — this is the second $1.5 million grant Owlet has accepted from the NIH — given specifically for the purpose of conducting a study centered on the health and wellbeing of infants.
The remainder of the money comes via the traditional venture capital route — Eclipse and Eniac, Trilogy Equity Partners, the Amazon Alexa Fund, RTP-HC, Capital Integral, and Broadway Angels all participated in the round. The Smart Sock was made available to the general public in October 2015 and with today’s news, Owlet now has plenty of resources to continue pushing forward on that path.
As is tradition at Beehive Startups, I’ve composed a funding poem. Read it, sit with it, and ponder what it means.
A Baby’s Sock
No offense, baby, but you don’t have
the prettiest of feet
though to be fair, pretty feet don’t really exist
even if disreputable websites would disagree.
When I see your feet, baby, I want to cover them up
hide the world from your pigly toes
and oily rolls of fat, endless as a mountain range
that glistens in the noonday sun.
Fear not, baby, I think I’ve found the answer
a sock to keep you safe and warm,
monitoring every breath like a midnight owl
perched under a crescent moon.
