Glif iPhone accessory highlights new product funding, development model

iPhone accessories can be big business, a fact not lost on two entrepreneurs who devised an injection molded tripod/kickstand for Apple's ubiquitous digital device and were quickly inundated with startup funding. Thomas Gerhardt and Dan Provost developed the Glif when they "realized the iPhone 4 is literally the best camera we've ever owned." The phone has the ability to record HD video and offer high-dynamic range photography, but its design is such that it can't have the same threaded insert normally found in cameras that allow them to be securely mounted to a tripod.

In addition allowing users to mount their iPhone to a standard tripod, the Glif also acts as a kickstand to prop an iPhone up at a variety of angles and orientations. Provost and Gerhardt say the combined capabilities the Glif offers include hands-free FaceTiming, watching videos, making movies, and using the device as an alarm clock, among others.

The developers turned to online startup funding platform, Kickstarter, to generate the funds necessary for tooling, as they decided early on to have the devices injection molded. Kickstarter allows users to propose a project ranging from a film to a gadget and follows an "all or nothing funding" model wherein a project must reach its funding total before time runs out or no money changes hands. The Glif ultimately won 5273 "backers" via Kickstarter, who pledged a combined $137,417, well above the goal of $10,000.

In the case of the Glif, Provost and Gerhardt asked interested parties to pledge at least $20 dollars, and in return, they would be delivered a Glif, and help the project get off its feet. Molded from Santoprene thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV), the Glif is being manufactured by Premier Source (Brookings, SD), which is part of Falcon Plastics. Premier Source offers functional prototypes or short run production quantities.

Update:
iPhone Glif followup: Production footage from PremierSource