SAN FRANCISCO — A super-efficient shower fixture that reduces water waste by 70% is gaining enthusiastic backing from some of Silicon Valley's biggest names, bringing in more than $1.5 million in less than three days.
The startup, Nebia, based in drought-ravaged California, promises to revolutionize the way people shower by radically reducing the amount of water they use. Nebia's multi-nozzled shower head produces millions of misty droplets, in contrast to a traditional shower's streams of water.
A Kickstarter campaign launched Tuesday to raise money to produce the revolutionary bathroom fixture aimed to raise $100,000, but exceeded that goal by more than tenfold. The campaign has nearly sold out in three days. Advance orders for the re-imagined shower head can be placed for $299, with delivery starting in May 2016.
Among those contributing to the development of the Nebia shower head were Apple's CEO Tim Cook and Eric Schmidt, of Google's newly-formed parent company Alphabet.
Nebia's owner and co-founder, Philip Winter, told AFP that efforts to finance the project have met with success beyond his wildest dreams.
"The Kickstarter campaign has been incredible, a tremendous outpouring of support and interest from around the world on finding a better way to shower," Winter said. "I guess that makes sense, since everyone can relate to it on some level. We are trying to change the way people think about water in their daily lives by creating a better experience and saving 70% of water."
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2015
