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With ideas like the Smarty Ring winning support in crowdfunding campaigns, the market for mart jewelry has already been established.
But a company called Ringly, also known for a ring that lights up to signal incoming notifications, plans to push that market to the next level.
Now, after a successful $5.1 million round of Series A funding, Ringly is ready to develop even more wearables beyond its current offerings.
The influx of investment at Ringly comes primarily from Andreessen Horowitz, according to the company.
Other new investors in the company include High Line Venture Partners, Silas Capital, PCH, and more.
Ringly also received follow-on investments from First Round Capital, Mesa+, Social+Capital, and Brooklyn Bridge Ventures.
Since releasing its first wearable products, Ringly has grown from a group of three co-founders to a company of 12 people, its blog notes.
On the official Ringly blog, founder and CEO Christina Mercando writes:
“I didn’t set out to start a wearable technology company. In fact, when I first had the idea for Ringly, the term ‘wearables’ hadn’t even hit mainstream. I was simply tired of worrying where my phone was — at dinner, meetings, parties, drives, picnics, hikes, everywhere — for fear I’d miss something important.”
Ringly launched with a line of four wearable rings. These rings look the equivalent of some vintage costume jewelry. They have a simple setting with an 18k gold finish and a rather large stone, either a precious or semi-precious gem.
Remember, Ringly founder Mercando said that the company was founded with a fashion-first initiative.
In her blog post, Mercando adds:
“I’m not against the term wearables; it’s an important, growing category and perhaps that is where we fit in the world of tech. But we’re also a piece of jewelry that stands on its own?—it’s a mistake to only think of Ringly as a wearable.”
There’s a discreet light on the side of the ring that notifies users of incoming calls, texts, or any other types of alerts. A mobile app that corresponds with the Ringly ring can be set to alert users for any type of notification.
Ringly can also send a slight vibration to the finger that’s wearing the device when a notification has arrived.
The initial line of four rings was followed by a limited edition ring, too. All five are in the same style. All the rings are meant to be worn by women.
With the infusion of capital, Ringly hopes to expand its line to include more wearable devices.
In her post, Mercando mentions “a shirt that tracks your heart rate while you’re at the gym” and “a bathing suit that monitors sun exposure at the beach.” But she gave no further specifics about what products the company might unveil next.
Though she did hint on a next phase of growth for the company and suggested the next step in the industry would involve diversification of offerings.
TechCrunch reports Ringly may have set its sites on a diversified selection of rings, and perhaps bracelets next.
Image: Ringly