Fylde man's smart doorbell business

John Nussey, 33, who went to King Edward VII has launched the company Ding along with his wife Avril O’Neil to market the internet linked hub and has already attracted interest from retailer John Lewis.

They launched a Kickstarter campaign that raised more than 200 per cent of their initial goal and have received a letter of intent from John Lewis which runs a mentoring programme for entrepreneurs.

With increasing use of smart technology in the home, the doorbell which consists of a standard-looking push button and tiny speaker for the outside and a slim smart hub inside the home, is attracting increasing interest.

Now they are aiming to raise a further £250,000 for a 9.06 per cent equity in the business via the Seedrs crowdfunding site. The money invested will go towards growing their team in order to meet demand from retailers.

John said: “Avril and I run a design consultancy doing work for others but had a few ideas of our own on the back burner and this was one we have been working of for a couple of years. We looked at what was already on the market but found it was expensive over-complicated and hard to use.

“So we came up with our own. The idea was to have something beautifully simple for modern homes.

“To make life easier it connects to the homeowner’s phone so they can talk with whoever is at their door.

“For example they could be in the garden when the parcel man comes and they would not have to miss the delivery.

“People want the connectivity of a smart doorbell but are put off by the complexity of those on the market so they keep their 100 year old, ‘dumb doorbell’ instead.

“This presents a huge opportunity in the same way that the thermostat was for Nest.”

John said they hope to get the Ding smart doorbell on sale by October.

Avril O’Neill said: “We’re excited to invite our community to help grow Ding, and have the opportunity to be part of our story.”

Jonathan Marsh, Buying Director at John Lewis said: “From a John Lewis perspective is the perfect product.

“We are really excited about new innovation coming our way. Given the boom we’re seeing around the smart home we think Ding plays perfectly to that trend.”