Arduino Startups

Particle began in 2012 as Spark, a connected-lighting startup whose first Kickstarter failed because the product was too expensive at roughly $60 per bulb. Its pivot to the Spark Core development kit raised almost $600,000 on Kickstarter in 2013, and the company then grew into an IoT platform with hardware, cloud subscriptions, SIM plans, and professional services. The founder reported revenue of about $600K in 2013 and roughly $4M in 2016, with a 2017 goal of doubling again.

Instapainting is a marketplace that connects customers with artists who hand-paint custom artwork from photos. Chris Chan bootstrapped the business from personal financial desperation, starting with his roommates as painters and eventually scaling to work with artists primarily in China. Two and a half years in, the business generates $32,000/month in revenue as a solo operation through strategic SEO optimization and creative content marketing initiatives (including a painting robot and factory tour blog posts).