Crowdfunded in China: more air purifiers, more smartwatches, and more kegel trainers

For the first time, our monthly installment of China’s best crowdfunding campaigns features more projects on JD than Demohour. JD’s projects, while not necessarily any more original than those on Demohour, raised significantly more money. Thanks to its strong name recognition that reaches beyond the geeky hardware crowd, JD could soon eclipse Demohour as the preferred platform for funding new gadgets.

Here’s our top picks for September:

Threepapas Air Purifier

Air pollution will kill your kids. That’s the sales pitch used by Threepapas to round up support for its home air purifier. The triple filtration from which the company derived its name is targeted at Chinese homes with infants and small children. Those filters remove 99.99 percent of particulate matter and chemical pollutants from the air. Threepapas has two versions: an RMB 3,500 (US$570) purifier for larger rooms about a meter tall, and an RMB 1,000 (US$163) smaller model about half the dimensions, meant for smaller rooms. We’ve seen more than our fair share of air purifiers gunning for crowdfunding in China, but Threepapas makes the cut because of the whopping RMB 2.54 million (US$414,000) that it’s raised so far on JD.

iball

Kegel trainers are the sexiest new exercise trend to hit the female masses, and we’ve seen a handful of smartphone-connected manifestations make their way to crowdfunding sites. It started with the kGoal on Kickstarter, and came to China with the Skea, which allows users to play a Temple Run-style mobile game using their pelvic muscles. iBall works along the same lines, but offers three games and tracks progress as the user gets stronger. So far, iball has raised RMB 1.14 million (US$186,000) on JD.

MaxStone

MaxStone is a wireless remote that lets you control your DSLR camera through your iPhone. It’s crowdfunding simultaneously on Kickstarter and JD, and has met its goals on both. An app on the phone sends a Bluetooth signal to MaxStone, which in turn sends an infrared signal to the camera to operate the shutter. It has its own battery, which lasts up to one year, so it won’t be an added drain on your camera battery. A countdown timer, video recording, time lapse, and multiple camera setup options are all included. As an added bonus, the button can be used to locate your iPhone when lost, so long as it’s in Bluetooth range. Vice versa, the iPhone can help locate the MaxStone. While newer cameras are being outfitted with wifi transmitters for remote photo taking and image viewing, Maxstone offers a cheaper alternative at US$39. The project has raised US$172,300 on Kickstarter and RMB 253,019 (US$41,200) on JD.

IkinLoop

IkinLoop is a tabletop device equipped with a webcam and microphone for monitoring elderly family members. For example, a homebound parent can tap a button to instantly send a voice call to their son or daughter’s smartphone. Also, a concerned son or daughter can flip on the camera at any time to check up on their parent. Ikinloop also comes with a cuff that transmits blood pressure and heartbeat information to the app user. The app also monitors temperature and humidity in the elderly person’s home. If child tracking devices are for today’s overprotective parents, then Ikinloop is for today’s overprotective kids. It has raised RMB 306,000 (US$49,900) so far on JD.

Cling