INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The reMarkable tablet is a strange device in this era of ultra-smart gadgets: A black and white screen meant for reading, writing, and
sketching — and nothing more
Yet the company has sold 100,000 of the devices and now has attracted $15 million in series A funding from Spark Capital.
It an unusual
trajectory for a hardware startup exploring a nearly unoccupied market, but CEO Magnus Wanberg is confident that because this category of
device is destined to grow in response to increasingly invasive tech
Sometimes an anti-technology trend is the tech opportunity of a lifetime.
I reviewed the reMarkable last year and compared it with its only
real competition, the Sony Digital Paper Tablet
It was launched not on Kickstarter or Indiegogo but with its own independent crowdfunding campaign — and considering we&ve seen devices
like this attempt such a thing and either let down or rip off their backers, that alone was a significant risk.
Sony and reMarkable dueling
e-paper tablets are strange but impressive beasts
The device has been a runaway success, though, selling over 100,000 units — and
attracting investment in the process
When I talked with Wanberg and co-founder Gerst about their new A round, the conversation was so interesting that I decided to publish it in
full (or at least slightly edited).
How did they get here? What would they have done differently? Is the threat of the &smart& world really
a thing? Why fight tech with more tech?
Devin: So you guys raised some money, that great! But it been a while since we talked
I think it important to hear about the progress of unique companies that are doing interesting things
So first can you tell me a little about what the company been busy with?
Magnus: Well, we&ve created this wonderful product, the reMarkable
We&ve been very focused on that effort, based on a love for paper and a love for technology, to see if we can find some ways to join these
two together to help people think better
That sort of the the whole ethos of the company.
So for the last six years, we&ve just been grinding away… you know, we&re a small player
up against the big guys on this
So we&ve been sort of fighting guerrilla warfare trying to trying to establish ourselves.
And we were successful, fortunately, when we did
our pre-order campaign, because as we found out, we weren''t the only ones who who love this notion of thinking better with the paper
tablet, seeing paper as a powerful tool for thinking and for creating.
