Earlier this year, XY Findables decided to end their Reg A+ crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine and go it alone with the offering being hosted on their own website. On StartEngine, XY was seeking $10 million in capital to fuel the company’s growth plans in the hot item tracking space. After about a year on the crowdfunding platform, XY Findables decided it was enough and the company announced a change of plans.
Findables or tracking devices become a hot item due largely to perk based crowdfunding campaigns that helped to launch brands like Tile or Trackr Bravo. These devices are small and convenient but they are tied to technology like Bluetooth or WiFi and thus suffer from limitations of range. Using Bluetooth, a tracking device may have a range of 200 feet (at best). Some will use crowd-sourced applications that allow a relay system from other users. But what many people want is a tracking device that uses GPS and is tied to a cellular network. But these devices are far bigger and need more robust battery power to be viable.
Today, XY Findables has announced a GPS tracking device or XY GPS. XY Findables CEO, Arie Trouw, says that while users appreciate XY Bluetooth Finders for locating items like their keys or purse, they were frustrated by the inability to track items from a distance.
“Many of our users wanted to track their pets, their cars, their bicycles, things that tend to move on their own or have the potential to be stolen. Bluetooth is not a practical way to do this, so we developed the XY GPS.”
The XY GPS is bigger, as one would expect, but not overly so. The device is tied to a contract for a GSM provider with an option of a lifetime agreement. A lifetime subscription costs $199. A six month agreement is half of that. Perhaps the biggest challenge is battery life. Using GSM only the device is said to hold a charge for 24 hours thus you must charge it each day for if you are using it on a continuous basis. Not unreasonable but a far shorter battery life than existing Bluetooth trackers.
According to their filings with the SEC, XY Findables has been growing in revenue. In 2016, 2015 and 2014, XY sold approximately 250,000, 173,000 and 40,000 XY Beacons. The sales generated approximately $3,682,000, $1,540,000 and $354,000 in gross revenue, respectively. XY Findables continues to lose money as it targets market share growth in the competitive space but with a GPS tracker they may now be able to differentiate their product a bit more.
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