Is hardware still hard?

Coyosy thinks it's time to take modular tech mainstream

Hello there,

PreSeed Now’s pitch is simple: the best early-stage B2B and deep tech startups in the UK. But today’s startup is preparing to launch a consumer product. So… why cover it?

Quite frankly, Coyosy’s attempt to take modular tech into the mainstream is audacious enough for me to bend the rules just a little. I hope you agree. Scroll down to read all about them.

Today’s edition is the first to be partially restricted to paying PreSeed Now members. The idea of this newsletter is to provide you with knowledge that is useful to you professionally.

So please consider PreSeed Now as a useful business expense at £10 per month, or even better value at £100 per year (there’s also a founding member subscription available for a limited time if you’re really keen to support us!).

Meanwhile, I was pleased to see the new £215m Northern Gritstone fund revealed last Friday. It’s designed to help Northern university spinouts. Spinouts from across the UK are something we’re keen on here at PreSeed Now, so anything that encourages them is a positive thing.

Don’t forget, I’m always on the look out for interesting early-stage startups to cover here, along with details of recently raised pre-seed rounds. Drop me a line any time.

— Martin

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💷 Now raising

An early-stage startup raising money right now…

Piing makes live, massively multiplayer games for stadium-sized crowds. Think 50,000 people in the same place, all playing the same game on a big screen via their smartphones, with no app to download.

The Manchester-based team says the appeal of these mass-participation events has attracted sports federations, Premier League clubs, Bundesliga, Euroleague Basketball, AEG, and multiple agencies.

Bootstrapped to date, Piing is raising its first equity round to accelerate sales around the world and fuel further product development. More information

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Coyosy wants to take modular tech mainstream

Coyosy’s speaker - part of its modular audio system

‘Hardware is hard’ is a common mantra among tech investors. Developing, mass producing, marketing, and selling hardware at a competitive price when you’re not a giant like Samsung or Apple is a risky business. Just ask the people behind the countless Kickstarter projects that never quite made it.

But Fady Tarek Selim, co-founder of Coyosy, thinks that assumption is outdated. “Today anybody can make a prototype with a tenth of the cost of five or 10 years ago. In terms of development, I can even argue that in some cases hardware is cheaper to R&D than software.”