Four tech-savvy college students are trying to change the way people stay hydrated.
They developed a “smart” water bottle design and crowd-funded hundreds of thousands to back their efforts.
Hidrate CEO Nadya Nguyen said, "We just finished up kickstarter and our goal was $35,000. We exceeded that goal by 17 times. So we actually finished at $627,000 in funding."
The Minnesota entrepreneurs Alexandrea Feeken, Colemna Iverson, Nadya Nguyen, and Alexander Hambrock are all in their early 20's and have brought their product to market flush with cash.
The bottle factors in its users age, and body type, as well as weather and the physical activity they take part in, while connecting with their smart phone.
The smart water bottle was inspired by Nguyen's 10-hour bus trip.
"I just felt extremely sluggish and had a headache and that's when I realized I didn't drink any water for ten hours straight,” she said. “So there's a level sensor inside the bottle."
The team raised the $627,000 after finishing third in a contest with a rough design of their vision.
Now, the young entrepreneurs are excited to release their product to the public.
Entrepreneur Coleman Iverson added "It's going to be really cool to see people walking down the street with our bottles or if they're in stores, that will be really exciting for all of us I think."