IBM has joined forces with Indiegogo and Arrow Electronics to help bring new Internet of Things (IoT) ideas to life. According to IBM, this collaboration brings IBM's Watson IoT platform and cloud services together with ideation-to-production services from Arrow Electronics and crowdsourcing platform Indiegogo.
Qualified Indiegogo entrepreneurs will gain free access to the IBM Watson IoT Platform via Bluemix for an unlimited amount of time, giving them access to cloud services that include ready-to-use capabilities like artificial intelligence, blockchain, advanced data analytics, and cyber security.
In addition, Arrow provides qualified Indiegogo campaigns with up to $500,000 in benefits, such as component parts, online product design and prototyping tools, comprehensive technical reviews with Arrow engineers, manufacturing and supply chain services, and sustainable recycling.
Early examples of Arrow-certified Indiegogo IoT startup projects include Fitly, which created SmartPlate, the first intelligent nutrition platform that instantly analyzes and tracks what you eat, and PlayDate, the first smart ball for pets that lets owners interact with their dogs and cats from anywhere.
