We’re on track to deliver your Fibby before the summer.
about 2 years ago – Wed, Apr 20, 2022 at 12:33:16 PM

We’re getting there Feebs!

Last summer, you, and feebs from 52 countries, joined us in our mission to make it safer and more enjoyable for everyone to experience the water. With your Fibby and the accompanying app, you can soon playfully teach the essential water skills to your child from 2-6 years old. For this, we are truly grateful.

Due to a delay with the neoprene delivery and mold production, we had to postpone the delivery of your Fibby. During the video conversations with feebs who’ve tested Fibby already, but also in the comments you left on the campaign page, you showed great understanding for this, for which many thanks!

The good news is that the timelines communicated in our last update remain as they are, which means that we expect to start shipping at the end of May, well before the summer starts. Ready to know more about what’s going on? Here you go:

🚢 Neoprene and mold will arrive at their destination in early May 

The neoprene which we use for the Fibby vests is on its way to the factory in Bulgaria. In the meantime, the mold is in full production which means we can almost start producing the ‘First Out of Tool’ that we need for final certification. The render and photos give you a glimpse of the mold’s design process.

📦 Fibby’s box is ready for traveling the world 

As with Fibby’s design, we have given lots of thought/attention to the design of the box. The design has been finalized last week including all the safety warnings (to comply with regulations). We can’t wait to show you the design 😍.

🧐 Final certification as soon as the first mass-produced Fibby’s are ready

As you could read in our latest update Fibby passed all tests to get pre-certified. We are waiting for the First Out of Tool to get final approval. We can’t do this earlier as the regulator requires the mass-produced Fibby accompanied with the final leaflet and box design. As we have passed all tests before during the pre-certification, we don’t expect any issues getting certified.

📮Shipping starts immediately after certification

As soon as the green light is given by TÜV Rheinland we will start shipping Fibby’s in batches at the end of May. Please keep an eye on your inbox for Backerkit e-mails, the service we will use to collect the shipping costs, as well as opting-in on our terms and conditions.

📱The App will be ready to use as soon your Fibby arrive

To reach this milestone, we’ve doubled our development team in size, welcome Arco! With Arco in our team, we’re moving full steam ahead: most of the app screens are already built and we have now started implementing the course lectures. Coming week we will start with internal testing. We’re also illustrating storyboards for the instruction videos. The illustrations will be brought to life by an animator. Below are three scenes to give you a very first glimpse.

So that’s it Feebs!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, remarks, or anything else. I am also very happy to get to know each other better via a short video call. You too? Scheduling is easy through this link.

Let’s Am-Fibby-Fy humanity!

Hugo

Things have accelerated since our latest update!
about 2 years ago – Fri, Mar 11, 2022 at 10:27:58 AM

Hi Feebs!

More and more of you are wondering: when can we start discovering the water through play with our kids and Fibby? Thanks for your enthusiasm Feebs! We can’t wait either. Thankfully, things have accelerated since our last update. So let me bring you up to speed.

🎉 Pre-certification EN 13181-1 2021

Last February, we traveled to Cologne, Germany, to visit TÜV Rheinland. There, Fibby was tested according to the latest, more strict standards, which went into effect at the end of 2021. As expected, Fibby passed all tests successfully! This means the certification will not delay delivery. Hurray!

🚢 Neoprene on its way to Europe

Last month, our neoprene was produced in Taiwan. As we speak the neoprene is on its way to our factory in Bulgaria (EU), where the Fibby vests will be produced. Current ETA is at the end of April, after which production starts immediately.

🏭 Mold production started

As you could read in the previous update, a large car manufacturer captured our production slot in December. Last week, the production of the mold to create the orange Fibby buoys finally began. We also agreed to start producing the Kickstarter batch as soon as the first ‘nest’ out of two is textured with Fibby’s skin. Our final mold consists of two nests. Doing so will save us approximately 2-3 weeks for Kickstarter backers!

📦 Shipping Fibby to you

We plan to ship your Fibby directly from the factory as soon as they are ready, phased and in batches to everyone in the world (over 52 countries!). More info about our timelines in our next update(s).

😍 This is why tester & backer Thalia loved Fibby immediately

In our last update, we invited people to go for a Fibby test swim in the Netherlands. Thalia has tested Fibby as one of the first Kickstarter backers. Desiree, Stan, Chantal, and Laura (👋 Hi!!) will go swim in the upcoming weeks.

I am really happy to share Thalia’s first impression with you:

“Fibby’s videos made Ida (2 years) immediately excited to go swimming. She has seen them over 20 times!”

“At first we were afraid she would find swimming a bit scary. But thanks to Fibby‘s videos we were both well prepared. In the pool, she immediately wanted to jump and climb with me while playing. Amazing, this was her first time swimming with us!”

“It was fantastic seeing her being brave. While playing, she overcame things she thought would be too scary. We were both super proud. It is so precious being part of this development. What is great about Fibby is that it doesn't restrict learning swimming motions. Also the vest is comfortable to wear. Normally she doesn't want to wear anything, while she keeps wearing Fibby all the time.”

“We can’t wait to receive our own Fibby. I'd like to suggest slowing down the instructional video for parents. Sometimes it goes a little too fast for me.”

Thanks Thalia, this feedback is super valuable and is exactly why we involve parents and experts during the development process.

Do you live in The Netherlands and want to swim with a Fibby too? Send an email to [email protected]

📱Building the App

We are currently making good progress on the App. Last week, our developer Harrie was reinforced by developer Arco, to accelerate the building process. We also designed the imaginary world from which actor Annika will present the courses. Filming these movies will start as soon as we receive the very first final Fibby’s.

So that’s it Feebs!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions/remarks or anything else. I am also very happy to get to know each other better via a short video call. You too? Planning is easy through this link.

All the best!

Hugo

Some bumps on the road
over 2 years ago – Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 02:50:29 AM

Hi Feebs!

I hope you have had a great start to the new year! May it bring unforgettable moments with Fibby in the water!

I would like to check in with you because a lot is happening: I had a great visit to our European factory that will produce the vests, they’re ready to go! We also had some challenges, which unfortunately will impact our project timeline:

• If you’ve been following the news and our updates, you’ll probably know that the world is experiencing heavy delays with raw materials. Unfortunately, we are also affected by these longer shipping times. Our factory expects delivery of neoprene in mid-April when we also have planned the Fibby production.
• The Fibby mold for creating the buoy has been delayed as a big car manufacturer hijacked our production slot with a one-hundred-molds-in-one order in the same week our production was planned 🤯.
• Since passing the pre-certification test in October, a new standard has come into effect for swimming aids (NEN 13138-1 2021). This means Fibby needs to be tested again. We don’t expect the test will lead to product changes, as Fibby is already designed according to this new standard, but was tested to the then-current, old standard. Also, the only major new requirement, compared to the old standard, fits us like a glove: ‘The swimming device shall support the immersed body in a way that it does not exert forces or torques which are counterproductive to the basic swimming techniques.’ Fibby is already on its way to the testing area, tests have been planned, and we’re expecting a green light soon!
   

In the last months, I’ve met a lot of you via Google Meet and I know you can’t wait to discover the water through play with Fibby and your kids. Bringing Fibby to you is our top priority for us, also for the upcoming water safety projects in South Africa and Indonesia with the Dutch Don’t Drown Foundation.

We fully understand that this delay is frustrating. The only thing I can do is promise you to do everything that is in our reach to minimize the delay while in the meantime asking for your patience.

Fibby test swims in Rotterdam/The Netherlands!

Although there are not many, we have a few Fibby prototypes you can test with us. Interested? Please drop us a line at [email protected].

Backerkit e-mails

Last December and early January, a lot of you received an e-mail from Backerkit, asking you to update your payment details for shipping costs. This led to some confusion, sorry for that!

These are automated emails from Backerkit and we were surprised too! It won’t happen again as they now have paused all emails regarding shipping costs. We will come back later when we have a better understanding of the shipping costs.

So, that’s it Feebs! Of course, I will keep you posted. If you would like to have a video call with me about this update. Just plan it 👉 here.

All the best!

Hugo

🪛Mold construction starts, with your favorite skin.
over 2 years ago – Fri, Dec 10, 2021 at 05:06:00 AM

Hi Feebs!

Over a month ago, we invited you to share your favorite Fibby skin. Almost half of you participated! You, or sometimes even your children, we’re outspoken:

As you can see, your preference matched ours: the CORALE skin. You provided us with great information about the CORALE look, such as ‘looks smoother and more friendly to touch’, ‘seems easier to clean’ or it looks more ‘gentler’ (nice!)

There were also REPTILE fans: ‘It looks more solid as it looks like a rock’ or just ‘Dunno, it’s a feeling. Fantastic Feebs, feelings, that's exactly what we were looking for. Even outspoken feelings like this one ;-) ‘The reptile one looks a bit too reptilian’. Thanx!

🧊 Design freeze

So many people with so many different opinions. Strengthened by your commonly expressed preference, we’ve used the past weeks finalizing the mold’s design. It was a very delicate job, as modifications afterwards are either not possible or extremely expensive. However, thanks to the hard work of our two industrial engineers Jort & Jip, we’ve made it happen. (You can leave 👋 a thank you in the comment section below this update).

Below you’ll find a few designs of the CAT files. Keep in mind that you are seeing designs without texture. The blue surfaces will have a smooth skin and will be orange, of course.

📱 The Fibby App

Together with the Dutch Don’t Drown Foundation we’ve designed the Fibby method to enable parents to playfully teach their children to save an unexpected fall into the water. During the interviews (more about that later) Feebs from all over the world told me that they can’t wait for the precious moments in the water with Fibby and their child.

Our developer Harrie is still working on the underlying structure (the backend), of which we finished the authentication part. In addition, we’re creating the App’s design. As soon as we’re ready, we’ll start inviting backers to become test Feebs.

📦 When can you expect your Fibby?

A few of you already asked me: when will I receive Fibby!? Great to read that you are looking forward to Fibby too! We’re still on track with delivering your Fibby’s according to schedule, despite the earlier delay we experienced due to delayed certification results. The only thing that might stand in our way of delivering Fibby according to schedule is the delivery of the neoprene, of which the vests are made. Worldwide there are some delays in delivery, but our European factory, which I will visit soon, is on top of it. And of course, we will keep you updated.

✨Last, but not least

• Unexpectedly quickly, we received the novelty report for the patent application for the Fibby swimming aid. The outcome is very positive: Fibby is judged to be new and inventive!
• A few more Dutch Swimming Pools have already pre-ordered a Fibby training for their swimming teachers in order to offer Fibby lessons to their customers too.
• In the meantime, I have spoken to dozens of you, which in addition to being instructive, gives me energy and provides even opportunities for Fibby in the future. Do you also love to share your expectations & current swimming experiences with me in a 15-minute video call? Just plan it 👉 here 
• Want to invite a friend to pre-order a Fibby too? Via Backerkit it’s possible to pre-order a Fibby, which will be included in the Kickstarter shipping batch. Just send them an invite.
   

That’s it, Feebs!

I am looking forward to sharing the next exciting steps with you. In the meantime, I wish you happy holidays while staying healthy.

Hugo

🎉 Pre-certification & which skin do you prefer for Fibby?
over 2 years ago – Fri, Oct 29, 2021 at 10:37:03 PM

We continue to make progress, Feebs!

A few weeks ago we received the expected, but more than welcome, news from TÜV Rheinland. Based on the Fibby prototype, TÜV indicated that Fibby will pass the certification test! This means we’re soon allowed to sell Fibby as a swimming aid. Hurray!

Which skin type do you prefer?

After TÜV’s green light, the mold creation process started. The construction can begin at any moment. Meanwhile, we are adding the finishing touches to the design of Fibby's skin. This will be the final part of the mold’s design process. In order to make a well-considered choice, I would like to invite you to think along with us as well.

Click here to see the two skin designs & tell us which one you prefer.

We are very curious about your preferences!

Video calls

In the past few weeks, I’ve spoken with Feebs from all over the world (👋 Leonard, Annemieke, Igor, Wanja, Helena, Toetsie, Martijn, Neuelle, Tim, Marianne, and Adam) and I’ve learned a lot about why you love swimming with your kids and why you can’t wait to receive Fibby.

I can’t describe how helpful these conversations are for me and Fibby. Do you want to have a 15 minute video call too? At the end of the ‘Fibby survey’, I’ve added a link where you can schedule a call with me. I am looking forward to getting to know you better.

That’s it, Feebs!

Enjoy your day & don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Hugo