Have you met Ray? Raybaby Launching on Kickstarter TODAY Jan 31, 2017!
I've had the pleasure of speaking with Ranjana and Aardra, 2 of the founders of Raybaby, the world's first and only non contact sleep and wellness tracker launching today on Kickstarter.
What lovely human beings they are, and so smart to give us a tool with more capabilities that we could have hoped for. Ranjana mentioned it was after watching a doctor measure breathing over a baby's chest with his hand they they thought this technology would be possible.
It takes a village to bring a product to market, and I am excited to join their village. I hope you will become a cheerleader too and get a Raybaby today!
The first 48 hours of a campaign are critical, so jump in the action right away and tell others. :)
Here's our interview with Ranjana on Ray.
Handsocks: What's your background and how in the world did you know you could make monitor that wouldn't touch a baby and still measure everything needed?
Ranjana: We are 3 women technologists who are best friends and love babies. We are the perfect team not because one of us has a Masters in Mechanical Eng from Cornell or another has published research papers on Artificial Intelligence in University of Georgia. We are the perfect team because we were the highly qualified baby-sitters for our friends and family for the past 10 years of our lives :)
Ranjana: We are 3 women technologists who are best friends and love babies. We are the perfect team not because one of us has a Masters in Mechanical Eng from Cornell or another has published research papers on Artificial Intelligence in University of Georgia. We are the perfect team because we were the highly qualified baby-sitters for our friends and family for the past 10 years of our lives :)
We have been seeing our friends and family who are new moms and dads struggle with sleep training their babies. We saw there is more than a need for sleep training when we were visiting a friend who had a preemie baby. We saw the baby had to constantly wear a chest band or our friend had to constantly put their hand on the baby's chest to track the breathing rate. We delved into the research of breathing/respiration rate and we found out that its one of the 4 vitals a doctor tracks constantly in a hospital to diagnose diseases. We knew we had to create something that didn't require any electronic equipment on a tiny baby's body (basically no exploding batteries on a baby's body) and also something that would alert the parent accurately. For e.g. tell the mom when the baby might be running a fever or when the baby is awake, basically a journal that accurately tells you everything you need to know about the baby, something you can show the doctor. We realized parents of babies diagnosed with pre-existing allergy or asthma didn't have any option to track their baby's breathing at homes
Raybaby was just waiting to happen
Handsocks: What would you say the timeframe was for creating such a special product and the general steps you took to make this idea come to life?
Ranjana: So we rolled up our sleeves 2 years ago, created a prototype. Pitched our idea to various VC firms, got funding from the top hardware accelerator of the world, HAX. We went to China and worked closely with factories for the manufacturing. We spent 4 months there and ate a lot of Chinese food :) We pitched to Johnson & Johnson. They loved our idea. They understood the need for an accurate, safe tracker that will let new parents breathe easy. We spoke to a lot of moms and worked with babies (which we absolutely love doing :))We showcased our product at CES, beginning of the year. Our baby is due now. Launching on kickstarter on January 31st
Handsocks: What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome?
Ranjana: Leaving our family and going to China. It was crucial to the lifecycle of our product. Also, figuring out sleep patterns for babies. Because every baby has their own personality. They come with their own set of habits. We also worked really hard on the getting the accuracy in tracking respiration rate right. We are very proud of Raybaby now. It tracks respiration rate with an accuracy of 98%
Handsocks: What's your favorite part of this all?
Ranjana: Spending time with so many babies. The moms do all the dirty work. We are there when the baby is awake and happy
Handsocks: What's the most exciting thing for you about launching on Kickstarter today, January 31st?
Ranjana: Raybaby is coming home now 
We are excited to see the response of new moms and dads
Handsocks: What can our audience to support and help you most?
Ranjana: We want the backing of a community who believes technology can make lives easier for the already stressed out parents. We are giving away 100 units for $99. Pledge your support and be part of the Raybaby community
Thanks in advance for your support of these girls and their mission to bring us a fabulous product for our families.
XO,
Casey