Narrative, formerly known as Memoto, announces the closing of a new round of funding along with the new name for its brand and wearable camera, the “Narrative Clip”
Linköping, Sweden (October 3, 2013) – The innovative Swedish company that introduced the wearable Memoto camera announces two significant developments as the company prepares for availability in November, including the closing of 3 million dollars of funding, led by San Francisco based VC, True Ventures, and a new name for the brand, now “Narrative” and its hero product, the “Narrative Clip.”
“We’re thrilled to move into this new stage of our company’s history with a fresh, new face to the brand and a funding round that will help to ensure a successful upcoming launch,” said Martin Kallstrom, CEO of Narrative.
The brand name “Narrative” was selected by the team after considering the long-term benefits the wearable camera would provide its users. “After such a great response from our supporters, we learned a lot about how people intend to use the camera in their daily lives,” said Oskar Kalmaru, VP of Marketing, “People want to capture their life story with this camera not just individual moments, and the name ‘Narrative’ perfectly describes this desire. We called the camera “Clip” to describe it as wearable, quick and tiny.”
True Ventures, who has previously funded consumer electronics startups like MakerBot and Fitbit as well as software startups like Kiip, GigaOm and 9GAG, leads the funding round. “True Ventures has a history of investing in founders who create products that capture the imagination.” Said Phil Black, co-founder of early stage venture capital firm, True Ventures, “With Narrative, that investment theme continues because we were instantly enchanted by the boundless possibilities that the Narrative Clip camera and app create for the consumer.”
Also participating in the funding round was LDV capital along with London based Passion Capital who followed up its previous seed funding in Narrative. Narrative raised a first seed round last summer from Passion Capital who chose to follow up its first investment in this second round, together with private investor Evan Nisselson through LDV Capital.
“We were captivated by the possiblities and potential of the Narrative Clip and its intelligent companion app from our very first meeting with the team in early 2013. It’s a pleasure to see how consumers and investors alike have validated that interest and we’re looking forward to first product availability to see how much the demand really grows,” said Eileen Burbidge, Partner at Passion Capital.
Narrative has received over 4000 pre-orders of the Clip Lifelogging Camera since its debut on Kickstarter in late 2012. The Clip is a wearable camera that snaps automatic photos of life as-it-happens, creating a searchable and shareable photographic memory through its companion mobile application. Pre-orders can be made through Narrative.com for $279 and first shipments are expected for November.
About Narrative
Narrative is a Swedish startup with the vision of giving everyone a photographic memory. As an innovator within lifelogging, Narrative develops products that offer its users a way to capture and share every special moment of their lives.