YC-Backed Bluesmart Raises $2M for Its Self-Tracking Suitcase | Hacker News Reader

YC-Backed Bluesmart Raises $2M for Its Self-Tracking Suitcase

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49 pointsjuandazapata27 comments

There are at least a half dozen other suitcase tracking devices. Here's one you can buy right now: http://www.amazon.com/Trakdot-Luggage-Tracker/dp/B00KL3ZA4M

One that connected to Uber might be useful. If your luggage comes in on a different flight, it automatically calls a Uber slave to deliver it to wherever you are.

Yes, there are several devices that accomplish the tasks of the individual features that our product includes. But there were no solution with everything integrated in one single product. The Uber idea is great. We actually thought of something similar. Hopefully we can make it happen soon

Here one of the co-founders. Happy to answer any questions about our company and technology

was the IG campaign pre or post acceptance into YC?

When we sent the YC application we hadn't launch the campaign yet. By the time we had the interview with the partners the campaign had been live for some days and was starting to take off. It definetly helped there to show that we were "making something people want".

Few questions. First off, also a Startup Chile alum that was building a service in the travel industry. Congrats on WeHostels.

This technology obviously has use cases outside of tracking luggage, I'm curious if those use cases were included in your YC app and/or if it came up during the interview.

Will the carry on need to be turned off during takeoff and landing?

Do you have an SLA? Like, what if I take it somewhere there isn't cell service?

Are you concerned your luggage will become targeted by criminals expecting valuables?

Thanks!! Startup Chile mafia ftw. Yes, we included all the features and future ideas in our YC application. In the interview we talked about the vision for the company and I think the partners liked it. Although to be honest I felt that the interview didn't go well at all. Yes, we have a system for auto-turn-off at take-off. When there isn't service we will be able to tap into a bluetooth network if available. If not it will wake up and send location as soon as it can. We think the lock, id and location tracking will actually provide more security against any criminals.

Are there recurring costs for 3g/4g connectivity? What's the coverage area?

What is "37 Watts lithium ion battery"? Is it 37 watt-hours?

Could I achieve similar tracking ability to dropping an old Android phone into my suitcase, with a tracking app installed on it? How would this hack fall short compared to your product's tracking feature?

Initially there will be no additional cost for the basic level service. We might offer a premium version down the road. Still defining coverage but aiming to have a practical global coverage. The battery's capacity is 10,000 milliamps per hour. Yes, there are many hacks you can do to achieve a similar tracking ability. We want to provide a comprehensive solution in which the location tracking is just a part of it.

"37 Watts lithium ion battery" is meaningless as a capacity.

As is "10,000 milliamps per hour".

You likely have a 10 amp hour, 3.7 volt battery yielding a capacity of 37 watt hours. This is about the same capacity as an ordinary smart-phone (perhaps a bit larger, I think an iphone is 5 or 10ish ).

10,000 mah is the same as 10 amp hour. And that is 6 times what an iPhone has actually

Those units are very different from milliamps per hour (which is basically a nonsense unit) and watts (which are a unit of energy per time, therefore saying nothing about how long the battery will last).

I'm just trying to address the confusion here. Battery capacity is a relatively mundane detail, and I don't necessarily expect the people writing marketing copy to understand electrical terminology.

Yeah iphones are pretty small. I seem to remember some of my Sammys and Motos having in the 9-12 range. 37 might actually be approaching some small netbooks.

The capacity for energy storage is volts * amps over time. So a 10 amp hour battery at 3.7v holds less energy than a 10 amp hour battery at 12v. Together it makes watt-hours. That's the best way to measure storage capacity.

It seems really likely that an existing and huge luggage brand could also do this. What's protecting you guys from that?

First off we have filed for patents for the main aspects of the invention. But most importantly, we think that they will have a harder time because they don't have a software and electronics expertise internally. Plus, we think it will take a "startup ethos" of rapid iteration and closeness to the customer to get the product right.

What exactly did you patent? Phone in a suitcase? Phone with big battery in a suitcase? GPS .. in a phone? Phone in a suitcase, with big battery and no screen .. with a gps?

Actually, they are in better position to be acquired by the existing bigger luggage companies in few years. It is a lot easier for the bigger luggage companies to acquire them than create a software/hardware group.

Say your luggage is misrouted or mishandled. Does knowing the GPS coordinates actually help? In the end you still need to get the airline / airport to properly process and return the luggage. I somehow don't imagine that there exists a process now to get that information to the right places. Knowing that your luggage is stuck in London when you're in Tokyo doesn't really un-ruin your vacation, so I'm not sure about how that aspect is being marketed.

It will help the airline know where the bag is, and ideally get it back to you faster. At the moment they don't have simple ways to know that information, which is crazy.

Yeah, I think the keyword there is ideally, because it's really hard to know how much of a difference it actually makes.

Agree. I have specific stories in which it did make a difference, but it's just anecdotal data. To make it a solid solution we should work in partnership with the airlines (which we are planning to do)

What's the end game here, suitcases today, what else tomorrow?

By the way, we will be hiring soon. Check out our jobs page: http://bluesmart.com/pages/jobs

Maybe I missed something, but how does the suitcase communicate with your services? Isn't it limited by bluetooth range?

It's not just Bluetooth. We will be publishing the details of our full tracking solution soon

It'll be interesting to know. You can't make calls from the plane to transmit location. You can however, do it when you detect the luggage has landed, based on altitude and/or airport coordinates.

That's correct. Stay tuned, we'll release technical details in a blog post soon. Thanks for the feedback

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