Jolla's Crowdfunded, Open Source Tablet Raises $1.2M In Two Days

It was only a few days ago that Jolla, a startup from Finland, launched its Indiegogo campaign to crowdfund a new tablet powered by their open source OS Sailfish. Well, it only took them a few hours to meet their funding goal of $380,000, but with two full days now passed, they've raised over $1.18 million from almost 7,400 backers, and they still have 17 days to go.

Jolla has already sold out of its first three tiers of early-bird backer pricing, and current buyers are looking at a $209 pledge to secure themselves a tablet. The device is expected to ship in May 2015, at a retail price of $249. This strong, early demand doesn't come as a surprise to Jolla co-founder Marc Dillon, who told TechCrunch before the campaign launched that he was predicting they would sell out.

With its 7.85-inch screen, the Jolla tablet has a number of advantages against comparable devices. It features a higher pixel density than both the iPad Mini 3 and the new Nokia N1 tablet, and its retail price is $150 under the cheapest iPad Mini 3 configuration. But its greatest asset is the open source Sailfish OS, which allows users to run native Sailfish apps, as well as Android apps.

Jolla's original goal was to build a different kind mobile device, one that was outside the leading iOS and Android platforms. But the company has realized that with Android having such a strong presence in the market, compatibility would be both an asset and a differentiating feature.

VIA TechCrunch

SOURCE Indiegogo