'Canary' survives coal mine, scores nearly $2 million

Canary, a New York City startup with what it bills as the “the first smart home security device for everyone,” has managed to raise nearly $2 million in 35 days from prospective customers and supporters through crowdfunding.

The company's experience suggests this is a funding approach other security companies may want to take a look at.

I wrote about Canary—which is both the name of the company and the home security device it sells—back in July when it launched the campaign on Indiegogo. Like a canary in a coal mine, the company was trying to see how much support it could garner from crowdfunding and set its goal at a modest $100,000.

But it exceeded that on the first day. Now, with the campaign recently concluded, Canary has raised a total of $1,961,494 from 7,460 funders, according to Indiegogo's site. Most paid to receive one or more of the devices when they're made and shipped early next year, but 123 people paid $5 each just as supporters of the product who want to be kept updated on it as it goes into production.

Was Canary's crowdfunding experience unusual? According to a website called Android Police, the answer is "yes." Here's what was recently written about Canary on that site:

Relying on crowdfunding is inherently risky. Regardless of whether a project's on Kickstarter or Indiegogo, some never get a fraction of the funding they aim for. Others fall slightly short or, if they're lucky, barely manage to crawl over the finish line. Still, a select few completely blow the doors off. The Canary [is one of them].

Now, is this because Canary is truly the unique product it's billed to be or do crowdfunders just really like home security? Time will tell us the answer, I guess.