‘Tech for Nature’ Startup Bird Buddy Launches Exclusive App Demo of World’s First Ever Smart Bird Feeder at CES
Bird Buddy, CES Honoree 2022, is debuting its smart bird feeder at CES 2022 in what is thought to be the first ‘Tech for Nature’ consumer product for the show. Journalists, members of the media and interested distributors are able to secure an exclusive, never seen before, one:one online app experience demo accompanied by one of Bird Buddy’s three founders. Bird Buddy is the world’s first ever smart bird feeder recording and recognising bird visitors to backyards.
The app demo, specifically built for CES, will showcase the engaging app experience with live streaming, AI identification, gamified species collection, and live geographical exploration via the Bird Buddy network. The demo is proving to be popular with Bird Buddy already cited as ‘one of the unusual products at CES we can’t wait to see’ (Ceng News). Booking can be made directly and is the only way to access the app experience. As well as receiving a live demo, recipients can also sign up to exclusively receive the Bird Buddy app prior to launch in early March.
Bird Buddy is well on its way in establishing the world’s largest monitoring network for birds which will then create the globe’s biggest bird conservation database. Since launching on Kickstarter a year ago, Bird Buddy went on to be the most successfully funded project in the gadget category and now has over 55k units pre-sold across the world. Furthermore, the Slovenian and US based startup has recently secured $8.5m seed investment to fuel the predicted growth rate.
Bird Buddy is the brainchild of Franci Zidar (CEO), Ziga Vrticic (Chief Product Officer) and Kyle Buzzard (Chief Design Officer) who share a passion for bird watching and nature conservation. The idea started with the viral image of a gull who had acquired a Go Pro camera taking selfies. From that, the co-founding team used their combined experience in app development, gamification and design process to create Bird Buddy. With bird watching increasing in popularity (over 45% in the US in the past two years), the team are poised to help thousands across the globe reconnect with nature and get to know their feathered friends.
Commenting on their live app demo, Bird Buddy CEO Franci Zidar said:
“For the first time ever, as an exclusive for CES, people are able to access the world’s only live streaming of birds visiting a feeder, with species recognition and collection. It’s a different type of product for CES as we demonstrate how we can allow nature to grab our scrolling attention and for people to receive pure enjoyment from their backyard as well as connecting with others around the world. Packed into our bird feeder and app is a beautiful segue of AI, hardware and software coming together to provide a joyful experience wherever you are in the world. It really does need to be experienced to not only believe it but feel the fun you can have.”
| About Bird Buddy Bird Buddy, a smart AI-powered bird feeder rejuvenates a traditional concept and enables daily bite-sized connections with nature any time, anywhere. It notifies users whenever a bird stops by, sending one of those rare notifications that will bring them joy instead of stress. The built-in technology allows users to capture beautiful photos and video clips of their featherly visitors and the Bird Buddy app gamifies the experience by recognizing birds and organizing them in a “Pokémon GO like” collection. Bird Buddy has three co-founders: Ziga Vrtacic, Franci Zidar and Kyle Buzzard. Franci Zidar Franci is a serial entrepreneur with over 15 years experience of launching products and starting ventures with investors like Snap, Porsche and now GC and BACKED. Excited about gamifying the real world! Ziga Vrtacic Žiga is a seasoned product management professional with over ten years of experience with startups and established corporations. Before Bird Buddy, he was the product director of My Talking Tom, a global mobile game hit with over 1 billion downloads and has co-founded DJND, a civic tech nonprofit, which received three grants from Google DNI. Kyle Buzzard Kyle is an Industrial Designer and entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience developing breakthrough products with companies like Google, Logitech, Stix Golf, and Bird Buddy. His design work to date has been recognized with over two dozen international design awards and a multitude of design and utility patents. |
| About Bird Buddy: Bird Buddy, a smart bird feeder rejuvenates a traditional concept and enables daily bite-sized connections with nature any time, anywhere. It notifies users whenever a bird stops by, sending one of those rare notifications that will bring them joy instead of stress. The built-in technology allows users to capture beautiful photos and video clips of their featherly visitors and the Bird Buddy app gamifies the experience by recognizing birds and organizing them in a “Pokémon GO like” collection. Bird Buddy has three co-founders: Ziga Vrtacic, Franci Zidar and Kyle Buzzard who are passionate about using technology, great design and user experiences to reconnect people with nature. |
