Former Alibaba Chiefs Bring Tamagotchi-style Water Bottle to Market

Formed by former Alibaba Group executives, Shanghai-based Bowhead Technology Inc. has already sold over 30,000 interactive, Tamagotchi-style water bottles intended to help children form healthy hydration habits.

Co-founded in 2014 by former Alimama vice president Alvin Chiang, the company closed a $5 million funding round led by former Alibaba Group CEO Jonathan Lu in June. Mr. Lu invested $4 million in the company. Alimama is Alibaba’s marketing technology service.

Gululu

Bowhead partnered with Israeli-born entrepreneur, Asi Meskin, to develop a smart bottle with a screen displaying an animation of a pet that “grows” based on the bottle’s water levels. Called “Gululu,” the bottle is meant for children 3-10 years old, and can send updates to parents through a mobile app. The bottle was piloted earlier this year in Sha’al, a rural community in the Golan Heights.

"When a child learns to hydrate properly from an early age, he develops healthy habits for life,” said Mr. Meskin in an interview with Calcalist held at a Tel-Aviv event hosted by entrepreneurs community Startup Grind on Tuesda. Examining hydration levels of children, a Harvard study published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2015, found that 54% of children that participated in the research were inadequately hydrated.

“It is still difficult to convince children to drink water,” Mr. Meskin said, and far easier to convince them to consume soft drinks.

Bowhead has raised $7 million to date, including $250 thousand raised in a Kickstarter campaign. The company employs 35 people.

Its virtual pet water bottle, available on Amazon Exclusives, retails for 129$ per unit in the U.S., China and Taiwan.