Tindie, the online hardware market that has been described as ‘Etsy for electronics’ has nailed down $500k in seed funding.
The site as launched in June and it came about after founder Emile Petrone posted a query on Reddit asking if readers would be interested in using an Arduino marketplace.
The seed round was led by Boris Wertz of Version One Ventures in Vancouver and Chris Devore of the Founders Co-Op in Seattle.
When it comes to the resurgence of makers, Internet of Things and the future of how we may be able to manufacture things for ourselves, Petrone appears to be right on the money with this idea.
As people take to the idea of being makers, they are going to need to find the tools and kit to work with and a one-stop-shop could be a simple way of capturing that market.
The Tindie site mission says that it wants to “connect the world’s small, hardware businesses with customers all over the world”.
As we see independent hardware stores disappear from the high street, taking the market online and giving space to smaller retailers could help to refresh the way items are sold and maybe even save a few businesses along the way.
On site the company also acknowledges that there is already a selection of hardware in use to inspire us to become makers.
The exciting part is where we go from here. 3d printing, quadcopters, drones, Raspberry Pi, and Arduino are all growing in popularity every day. What innovations will come from these platforms, only time will tell. However Tindie will be there to support the makers building our future.
The site is free for sellers to sign up and post their goods. Buyers make their purchases and Tindie reimburses the sellers via Paypal at the end of the month, minus the company’s fee of 5% or a minimum of $1.
The pieces of the hardware puzzle are starting to fall into place. With 3D printers, online hardware stores, instruction sites like Instructables helping people to learn and even crowd funded hardware platforms like Christie Street helping to fund bigger projects.
After we have spent the past two decades and change putting our personal information online, maybe it really is time to work out new ways of getting that back into the real world.
Image Credit: Rileyporter / Flickr
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