reMarkable, maker of a focus-friendly e-paper tablet, says it closed funding at a $1B+ valuation after selling 1M devices – TechCrunch

{Hardware}, because the saying goes, is difficult; however there stays a possibility for startups that concentrate on particular niches to construct viable companies. Within the newest instance, reMarkable, the Oslo, Norway-based maker of a easy and slick $299 e-paper pill of the identical identify, says that it has handed 1 million units offered since 2017 and not too long ago raised cash at a $1 billion valuation after making revenues of $300 million and working earnings of $31 million in 2021.

Founder and CEO Magnus Wanberg mentioned reMarkable just isn’t disclosing the quantity of the funding, nor who was concerned, besides to say that it’s a minority stake within the firm and that it got here from a number of worldwide (not Norwegian) traders. The corporate employs 300+ individuals and Wanberg says it’s nonetheless “majority worker owned.”

“Nothing’s fishy however we’re preserving it confidential,” he mentioned after I requested why the reticence on the funding. He famous that whereas the deal was made final yr, the startup is disclosing it now as “a very good indication, a sign out to the world” of how the corporate is doing. “That is simply sprinkles for us,” he mentioned greater than as soon as throughout our interview.

Spark, which led a $15 million funding into the corporate in 2019 (when it had offered a mere 100,000 units), stays a shareholder within the firm, Wanberg added. And it appears that evidently the startup is open to elevating extra to spend money on development (maybe another excuse for talking about its newest funding now).

reMarkable’s development and milestone funding are exceptional (sorry needed to do it) in themselves, however what can be attention-grabbing is to think about why and the way an organization like reMarkable is discovering traction.

Numerous shoppers positively don’t appear to thoughts being very on-line, however there’s positively a seam of customers searching for methods to make use of new know-how that doesn’t on the similar time spell being locked into the litany of pings and distractions that include a lot related know-how at the moment. And more and more we’re seeing firms constructing for that seam of customers. reMarkable is considered one of them. Wanberg believes that this firm’s success so far is due largely to the main target it has on “focus.”

“The way forward for the pill as we see it’s within the route that Apple and others are heading, a fusion of laptop computer and pill kinds,” which enhances how individuals additionally use smartphones, he mentioned in an interview. “However our providing is a 3rd system, a focussed area for books, drawing and notes, the place you may actually keep away from distractions and procrastination. That’s our positioning.”

Even its small concessions to aesthetics — the sound and really feel of reMarkable’s pen on its display screen are extra akin to a writing utensil shifting throughout paper than a stylus gliding on the glass of your iPad — really feel in assist of making an attempt to assist individuals overlook they’re utilizing a bit of electronics.

The corporate’s enterprise mannequin was initially banked round promoting {hardware}, which at the moment is utilized by “lots of of 1000’s” of energetic customers. The corporate’s reMarkable 2 mannequin, launched in 2020 because the Covid-19 outbreak went international, actually rode the wave of extra individuals doing extra issues at residence and looking for extra nuanced makes use of for his or her quiet time.

However in October of final yr reMarkable made a wager on aligning itself nearer with that concept of focus, launching a subscription service referred to as Join.

Whereas others like Apple have additionally constructed out recurring providers companies primarily based round its {hardware}, this was an particularly necessary milestone for reMarkable, which has solely launched two units since being based in 2013 and touts that you don’t want to purchase a brand new system for at the least 10 years if you purchase one.

Billed month-to-month in two tiers (regular at $7.99/month and “lite” at $4.99/month), Join is how the startup plans to make a considerable a part of its cash going ahead (certainly, after I requested it declined to offer any projections for system gross sales for 2022). Amongst its options, Join offers steady software program updates; cloud storage; connectivity with Dropbox, Google Drive and One Drive if you’d like it; an prolonged guarantee for the pill; handwriting conversion; display screen sharing and a function to ship by e-mail — in different phrases, just a few options to get info into and out of your reMarkable pill, however in any other case nothing particularly real-time and dynamic.

On this approach, although it calls itself a pill, the reMarkable is extra like an e-reader, Wanberg mentioned.

“With an E-reader and also you personal and use it for fairly a very long time,” he defined. “In our enterprise, it’s not a new-model-every-year dynamic. There isn’t a emphasis on new mannequin possession. We don’t wish to pressure our firm to slap on some iteration for the sake of it. There may be true innovation, main steps by way of what we are able to provide the shopper. We additionally suppose it’s nice from a sustainability perspective [to move away from] pushing out new {hardware}.”

Wanberg didn’t disclose what number of have adopted Join thus far, solely noting that thus far it has had a “nice response” as reMarkable “tries to show to prospects that we are able to serve them on a working foundation.” On condition that Join solely launched in October of final yr, it could be too early to inform. Its $31 million working revenue in 2021 was greater than triple its revenue in 2020 ($10 million), however reMarkable famous that this was “pushed largely by gross sales of its newest paper pill.”