Avnet, Dragon Innovation and Kickstarter Launch Hardware Studio
September 19 2017 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
New Survey from Avnet Offers Insights into
Moving Technology from Development to Market
For the growing entrepreneur community, there is good news and
continuing challenges. The good news is that designers say they are
finding it much easier today to identify the right technologies for
their ideas and use those technologies to develop and test
prototypes. On the flip side, they are finding it more difficult to
identify the right market for sales for the products they are
developing and to get financing. These results come from a U.S.
survey of makers conducted by global technology distributor Avnet
(NYSE: AVT).
This Smart News Release features multimedia.
View the full release here:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170919005972/en/
Based on survey findings, Avnet
infographic depicts challenges facing hardware designers developing
new technology and bringing it to market. (Graphic: Business
Wire)
To meet these challenges and to help creators and designers
bring new technologies to market faster, today Avnet, Dragon
Innovation and Kickstarter launched Hardware Studio. Hardware
Studio includes Toolkit, a community site where creators can
participate in tutorials and live webinars with industry
experts before launching their projects on Kickstarter.
Additionally, Hardware Studio Connection, a venture between Avnet
and its Dragon Innovation division, gives creators and designers
access to hands-on support from the companies’ engineers as well as
discounts on components and services.
These new programs are designed to help guide startups through
the product development cycle and get their ventures into the right
channels as quickly as possible.
“Entrepreneurs are working on multiple projects at once, across
various technologies and industries, and the development process
can be long and complicated. While it’s getting easier to build
products, startups are finding it more difficult to overcome key
obstacles in taking their technology products to market. Often
times these challenges are avoidable,” said Bob Merriman, business
development manager, Avnet. “The results of our survey help us
underscore the challenges we know that Hardware Studio can tackle
as startups move their projects forward.”
Insights from the survey highlight the advantage Hardware Studio
offers to creators and designers at startups. Some of these
insights include:
- More than two-thirds (76 percent) of
those surveyed find that it’s getting easier for them to develop
and test prototypes, while nearly half (45 percent) say that that
it’s getting easier to identify the right technologies for their
project.
- According to those surveyed, the period
of time following initial design and preceding manufacturing is the
most significant stage of product development. More than half said
that the most critical stages for product development were
prototype development (33 percent) and early stage development (22
percent).
- Sensors and Internet of Things (IoT)
technologies were, by far, those technologies considered most
important by makers for the design of their products and services.
Four out of five (84 percent) said sensors were a critical
technology and three in four (77 percent) said IoT was a critical
technology. After that there was a considerable drop, with 36
percent identifying lighting and display, and 28 percent selecting
artificial intelligence as a critical technology.
Merriman added, “Through Hardware Studio Connection, we can
facilitate access to technology and tools and help makers and
engineers alike understand the cost and path to deliver their
products to market. Together with Dragon Innovation, we’re
leveraging our expertise to help customers of all sizes, from the
individual creator and smallest of startups to large
multinationals, by taking the risk out of their campaigns and
increasing the success of their technology projects.”
The survey, conducted by Avnet of its Hackster.io community,
provides insights into the maker and engineering community. The
company’s recent expansion into the startup community underscores
its commitment to supporting customers of all sizes through each
stage of the technology product lifecycle.
Additional key findings from the survey include:
- Forty-three percent of startups are
currently working on developing technology applications for two or
more projects. Thirty-two percent of these projects are focused on
consumer goods, while nearly a quarter (23 percent) are in IT and
data analysis or utilities (22 percent). One in five (20 percent)
projects are in the not-for-profit space.
- Nearly one in three (30 percent) report
it’s getting more difficult to identify the right market for
sales.
- Roughly three-quarters of those
surveyed (73 percent) have not sought funding. Further, a majority
(61 percent) of designers surveyed who secured funding for their
products did so during the prototype phase.
- Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of those
surveyed say that it’s getting much or somewhat more difficult for
them to get financing for development.
The launch of Hardware Studio and the release of Avnet’s survey
of 400 entrepreneurs in the U.S., including hobbyists, students,
and professional engineers and makers, underscores the company’s
continued commitment to support this community in bringing their
technology solutions to market.
Avnet’s acquisition of both Premier Farnell (including its
element14 community) and Hackster.io last year expanded the
company’s reach to more than two million customers and an active
community of more than 750,000 entrepreneurs, makers and engineers
worldwide. Announced in August, Avnet’s acquisition of Dragon
Innovation strengthens the company’s role in developing new
technology products by simplifying the manufacturing process,
particularly for those projects that advance Internet of Things
(IoT).
To see how Avnet is helping guide its customers through each
phase of the technology product lifecycle, please visit:
https://www.avnet.com/wps/portal/us/company/about-avnet/success-stories.
Follow Avnet on Twitter: @AvnetConnect with Avnet on LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/company/avnetConnect with Avnet on
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AvnetInc
All brands and trade names are trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are the properties of their respective owners.
Avnet disclaims any proprietary interest in marks other than its
own.
About Avnet
From idea to design and from prototype to production, Avnet
supports customers at each stage of a product’s lifecycle. A
comprehensive portfolio of design and supply chain services makes
Avnet the go-to guide for innovators who set the pace for
technological change. For nearly a century, Avnet has helped its
customers and suppliers around the world realize the transformative
possibilities of technology. Learn more about Avnet at
www.avnet.com.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170919005972/en/
AvnetMaureen O’Leary,
480-643-7499maureen.oleary@avnet.comorBrodeur Partners, for
AvnetJamie Ernst, 480-308-0286jernst@brodeur.com
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