Smart ring company raises $5M in funding

New York--A company that makes rings that alert wearers to incoming calls and text messages has more funding for the future.

Ringly calls its pink-sapphire-set ring “Wine Bar.” It retails for $195.

New York-based Ringly announced that it has secured $5.1 million in Series A funding from a group of investors led by Andreessen Horowitz. This brings total investment in the company to $6.1 million to date. 

Ringly’s rings, which are sold on Ringly.com, are 18-karat plated gold set with a choice of rainbow moonstone, pink sapphire, onyx or emerald. They range in price from $195 to $260. There also is one option the company bills as limited-edition that is a rhodium-plated setting with a tourmilated quartz. It retails for $195. 

Ringly said it intends to use this fresh round of funding to expand its offerings beyond rings. 

The rings work like this: People who buy them download the Ringly applications to either their Apple or Android smartphone. The ring then can be set up to buzz or light up when the wearer has something coming through on their smartphone, including a phone call, text message, Facebook notification or notifications from apps such as Uber letting them know their car has arrived. 

Ringly began taking pre-orders online in June and shipped its first pieces in December. It’s now taking orders for pieces that will ship in the spring.

The company said it expects to continue selling online as well as at Bloomingdale’s and on Shopbop.com beginning sometime early in the year. 

“You might think that wearable devices like Ringly will make people even more obsessed with the Internet,” Andreessen partner Chris Dixon wrote in a blog post announcing the investment on the Andreessen website. “My experience has been the opposite. I set up my Ringly to notify me when certain people text or call, and then I’m able to completely ignore my phone. It feels very natural and is far less distracting than having your phone within reach.”

Dixon, who is an entrepreneur and investor, also noted in his blog post the rise of the “personal cloud,” a new model of computer networking that centers on wearable technology.