Connect with us

Technology

Bird Buddy Launches World First AI-Powered Smart Hummingbird Feeder and Smart Bird Bath

Published

3 years ago

on

Tech for Nature start-up launches new products on Kickstarter with exclusive early bird deals for up to 25 percent off New products use same built-in AI recognition tech and modular camera as their original popular Smart Bird FeederBird Buddy is one of Kickstarter’s best-performing alumni with first campaign in its top 1 percent most funded projects

KALAMAZOO, Mich., May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Bird Buddy has launched a crowdfunding campaign for the world’s first AI-powered Smart Hummingbird Feeder and Smart Bird Bath following a successful prototype reveal at CES 2023 which took the event by storm. The Tech for Nature start-up has returned to Kickstarter with the new products available for pre-order on the platform at a discounted price from May 16th 2023 until June 16th, 2023. The products have been developed in response to demand from the Bird Buddy community, who share a deep love and affection for hummingbirds, and the need for a bird bath to complement their original Smart Bird Feeder. Early backers can enjoy up to 25 percent off as well as exclusive bundles in helping to meet a target $100,000 raise.

Bird Buddy’s Smart Hummingbird Feeder is designed to provide up close and personal views of our tiniest, beloved feathered friends like never before. It recognizes all common hummingbird species in North America, and captures exceptional photos and videos of these quick-moving wonders. In addition to hummingbirds, these feeders may also attract bees and butterflies, ever-increasing the biodiversity of any backyard. The feeder comes with or without a solar roof, using the same Bird Buddy camera module with 5 megapixels and HD video, a 120° field of view and built-in microphone which allows existing users the option to swap their camera between feeders. Since revealing the prototype in January this year, clamor for the feeder has been unprecedented, with content from the test feeders exciting many hummingbird fans.

Commenting on the new products, Dejan Bjordan, Bird Buddy’s in-house Ornithologist said:

“Hummingbirds elicit such affection in bird enthusiasts; their beautiful flash colors, rapid wing action and hovering tendencies means it’s really challenging to obtain high quality images, let alone identify their species. Our smart feeder has been specifically designed so that you can enjoy these delights from the ease of your smartphone or tablet wherever you are, much the same as our original feeder.”

“Our Smart Bird Bath offers a fun new way to capture new photos and videos of your favorite avian friends.  In the warm months of summer when temperatures rise, bird baths call to a wide variety of birds, from raptors to seed-eating birds so it’s a neat way to invite more species of native birds to your backyard. If every household created a diverse, thriving ecosystem in their backyard, the collective impact would be tremendous.”

As a crowd-sourced business with over 100,000 Smart Bird Feeder units now shipped worldwide, the Bird Buddy community is at the heart of the team’s new product development – both as a gadget and an app. Through the community, Bird Buddy has also created its citizen science platform, Bird Buddy’s Heartbeat, which provides real time sightings across its network with open source datasets available for scientists to use.

Speaking about the importance of the community, Franci Zidar, CEO, Bird Buddy said:

“Thousands of Bird Buddy Smart Bird Feeder owners as well as bird lovers around the world have helped us design these new products. We’ve had dozens of beta testers from our community who have put our prototypes to the ultimate test in their backyards, giving us real-time feedback and suggestions. Our community has also played a key role in shaping our app development, with the new Birdbuddy TV being a particular big hit. Having been so deeply supported by our customers and Kickstarter’s leaders, it is only natural that we have returned to the community-based platform to launch our new products. We could not be more excited about offering more people even greater chances to reconnect with nature, in their own backyards and beyond.”

Heather Swift Hunt, Head of Design & Tech, Kickstarter said:

“Bird Buddy saw tremendous support for their last project from a passionate community on Kickstarter: 22,925 bird lovers backed nearly $4.6 million on our platform alone to help bring it to life, making it one of the biggest projects of 2021. While that number was impressive, even more impressive was seeing them ship and deliver all those products to excited backers, and seeing those backers share their images, stories and enthusiasm with each other and the world. Bird Buddy is the best of what Kickstarter is all about.”

The new Kickstarter is now live and people can visit this page to participate and secure their choice in products and be a part of the flock. 

The Kickstarter media kit is here.

Bird Buddy data

Number of current active feeders: 65,000We have active feeders in 113 countriesTotal number of photos and videos taken: 100 Million+

Total number of species identified to date: 472 (recognized by AI or manual review)Total number (ave) of photos / videos captured per day: ~837k per day
            – Photos: 674k per day
            – Video: 163K per dayBird Buddy Live Heartbeat: https://live.mybirdbuddy.com/.
            Context: https://blog.mybirdbuddy.com/post/bird-buddy-visits-live

Smart Hummingbird Feeder product specs

Hummingbird Feeder HousingOptional solar roof add-on to decrease charging needOptimal 12-ounce nectar containerBird Buddy camera module with 5 megapixels and HD video, a 120° field of view and built-in microphoneStainless steel hanging wireUSB-C charging cableTwo cleaning brushes (for reservoir and ports)Designed for easy camera transferSecure camera-mounting magnetsEasy disassembly and cleaningThe feeder is made of ASA, an outdoor rated, ultra-durable and recyclable plastic.The feeder housing is Made in the USA, along with the final assembly of the unit.Height – 8.5in. | 215mmWidth – 5.75 in. | 145mmDepth – 6.5 in. | 165mmWeight – ~2lbs.

*The camera module is interchangeable with any Bird Buddy housing.

Smart Bird Bath product specs

Bird Bath HousingBird Buddy camera module with 5 megapixels and HD video, a 120° field of view and built-in microphoneUSB-C Charging cableUniversal Mount and screwsShort pole mount for the lawnOptional add-on solar panel with solar-powered water fountainThe feeder is made of ASA, an outdoor rated, ultra-durable and recyclable plastic.14-inches in diameter

Bird Buddy awards

CES 2022 honoree x 3SXSW Innovation Award for AI 2023Best of Kickstarter AwardIDEA Silver Award 2022Spoga + Gafa Gardena Pitch Award 2022

About Bird Buddy
Bird Buddy created and developed the world’s first smart AI-powered bird feeder that instantly snaps and recognizes the species feeding at the unit. This has rejuvenated a traditional and popular hobby of bird watching and enables daily bite-sized connections with nature any time, anywhere. It notifies users whenever a bird stops by, sending one of those rare notifications that will bring them joy instead of stress.

The built-in technology allows users to capture beautiful photos and video clips of their featherly visitors and the Bird Buddy app gamifies the experience by recognizing birds and organizing them in a “Pokémon GO like” collection.

Users regularly share their images on the Bird Buddy social wall: https://social.mybirdbuddy.com. Furthermore, opted in community members provide real time reports of sightings through the Bird Buddy Heartbeat platform creating open source citizen science datasets: https://live.mybirdbuddy.com

Bird Buddy has three co-founders: Ziga Vrtacic, Franci Zidar and Kyle Buzzard.







View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bird-buddy-launches-world-first-ai-powered-smart-hummingbird-feeder-and-smart-bird-bath-301826033.html

SOURCE Bird Buddy

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Technology

Chelsea FC announces multi-year sleeve partnership with Sokin, the business payments and FX platform

Published

15 minutes ago

on

October 23, 2026

By

Chelsea FC name fast-growing fintech platform as Principal Partner

LONDON, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chelsea Football Club has today announced a multi-year partnership with Sokin, the embedded finance and payments company used by businesses worldwide. Sokin will be named a Principal Partner and Official Business Payments and FX Partner of Chelsea FC and Chelsea FC Women.

As a Principal Partner, Sokin will be represented on the sleeves of the Chelsea FC men’s, women’s and academy home, away, and third kits from the 2026/27 season.

The partnership brings together two ambitious London-headquartered organisations with worldwide reach – a club with millions of fans across the world and a fintech platform through which businesses move more than $11 billion a year. A club of Chelsea’s scale works in many currencies every day, with partners, competitions and supporters around the world, and needs a financial partner built to handle that.

Sokin gives finance teams business payments, multi-currency accounts, foreign exchange, checkout and treasury in one place, so they spend less time juggling banks and providers and keep more of what they move.

As Official Business Payments and FX Partner, Sokin will simplify how Chelsea FC sends, receives and manages money in the currencies the club operates in.

The Sokin logo will feature on the sleeve of the Chelsea shirt for the first time [when the men’s team host Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Saturday 24th October.]

Jason Gannon, President at Chelsea FC said:

“At Chelsea, we seek to partner with organisations that share our ambition and innovative mindset. Sokin’s expertise in business payments, and their focus on making both simpler for the businesses they serve, makes them a natural fit for the Club. We are pleased to welcome Sokin to the Chelsea family and look forward to working together in the years ahead.”

Vroon Modgill, CEO and founder at Sokin said:

“Chelsea plays on the biggest stage in world football, and its business runs in dozens of currencies. Sokin was built for that with regulated, multi-currency payments and foreign exchange for organisations that operate internationally. We’re proud to be the platform behind the business payments and FX of one of the most iconic teams in football. Sokin’s platform serves businesses in more than 170 countries. We’re thrilled to be partners for the season ahead. An organisation as sophisticated as Chelsea doesn’t leave its finances to chance.”

About Sokin

Sokin is the financial layer global business runs on. Businesses can transact, convert and hold money in 70+ currencies across 170+ countries. Some businesses use Sokin to manage global finance in-house. Others build it into their products to power financial experiences for their customers. Businesses move more than $9 billion a year on licenses Sokin holds in 36+ countries and infrastructure Sokin owns. Founded in 2019, Sokin has raised over $100 million from investors including Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and Prysm Capital.

About Chelsea Football Club

Chelsea Football Club is one of the biggest, most successful football clubs globally and our men’s team are reigning world champions, having won the four-yearly FIFA Club World Cup in 2025. Our women’s team, Chelsea Women, are also multiple trophy winners.

Founded in 1905, Chelsea is London’s most central football club, based at the iconic 40,000-capacity Stamford Bridge stadium. Nicknamed the Blues, the club lifted the Champions League for the first time in 2012 and domestically has won the Premier League five times, the FA Cup eight times, the Football League Cup five times and the Football League Championship once, in 1955.

The Chelsea Women’s team have enjoyed a huge amount of success and in 2025 won the FA Women’s Super League for a sixth consecutive year and the eighth time overall. The Women’s FA Cup has been won on six occasions. We have also captured the FA Women’s League Cup four times as well as reaching the UEFA Women’s Champions League final in 2021. In two seasons, 2020/21 and 2024/25, a domestic treble of trophies was secured.

The Chelsea Foundation boasts one of the most extensive community initiatives in sport, helping to improve the lives of children and young people all over the world.

Media Contacts:

Taina Biggs
taina.biggs@sokin.com 

Nerissa Chesterfield
nerissa.chesterfield@chelseafc.com 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/chelsea-fc-announces-multi-year-sleeve-partnership-with-sokin-the-business-payments-and-fx-platform-302918466.html

Continue Reading

Technology

Amy Johnson Appointed President of GDIT

Published

15 minutes ago

on

October 23, 2026

By

RESTON, Va., Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) announced today that Amy Johnson has been appointed as president of GDIT, effective November 3.

Johnson is a 27-year veteran of General Dynamics Mission Systems, where she held increasingly senior roles in engineering, engineering management and business leadership across cybersecurity, defense electronics, space and intelligence systems, most recently as vice president and general manager for Space, Cyber and Intelligence. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science and computer systems engineering. 

“Amy has a proven track record of leading teams to solve complex and highly technical challenges for our customers,” said Phebe Novakovic, CEO of General Dynamics. “I am confident that her dynamic leadership, operational rigor and deep commitment to our values and culture will deliver value to our customers, employees and shareholders.”

GDIT delivers digital modernization, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and software development solutions to the U.S. federal government, defense, intelligence agencies and other customers. It is a business unit of General Dynamics, a global aerospace and defense company that offers a broad portfolio of products and services in business aviation; ship construction and repair; land combat vehicles, weapons systems and munitions; and technology products and services. General Dynamics employs more than 120,000 people worldwide and generated $52.6 billion in revenue in 2025. More information is available at gd.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amy-johnson-appointed-president-of-gdit-302918411.html

SOURCE General Dynamics

Continue Reading

Technology

Yazan Al Homsi Invests US$500,000 in Toronto Drone Maker Arcanus Aerial Systems

Published

15 minutes ago

on

October 23, 2026

By

Private investment comes as Arcanus builds out Canadian manufacturing capacity for autonomous aerial systems

DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Yazan Al Homsi, a UAE-based investor and managing partner of Catalyst Communications DMCC, has invested US$500,000 in Arcanus Aerial Systems Inc., a Toronto-headquartered developer and manufacturer of unmanned aerial systems for defence, public safety and critical infrastructure customers. Al Homsi is an investor only and holds no operational, advisory or board role with the company. Other terms were not disclosed.

Arcanus is a Canadian-controlled company. It currently lists more than 15 platforms across heavy-lift, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), cargo, strike and counter-drone missions. According to the company, its published line-up includes:

AB 516e: a long-endurance vertical take-off fixed-wing aircraft rated for three hours of flight.AE 401: a counter-drone interceptor with a top speed of 300 km/h.AC 5250: a cargo platform with a 250 kg payload and a range of more than 2,300 km.

Alongside defence, Arcanus markets its systems for wildfire detection, search and rescue, Arctic sovereignty, border and maritime patrol, and pipeline and power line monitoring.

The company has spent 2026 assembling its domestic production base. In April, Arcanus signed a binding term sheet with Portugal-based Beyond Vision, granting it rights to manufacture, commercialize and support Beyond Vision’s unmanned aerial systems in Canada.

In June, Arcanus announced a five-year agreement appointing FeralX Systems Inc. as a non-exclusive Canadian contract manufacturer for several of its platforms.

“Canada has the engineering talent to build these systems at home, and recent years have shown how much depends on having that capacity domestically,” said Yazan Al Homsi. “What stood out to me about Arcanus was the manufacturing groundwork already in place: licensing, a production partner, and a range of aircraft that serves wildfire crews and search-and-rescue teams alongside defence customers.”

About Yazan Al Homsi

Yazan Al Homsi is a UAE-based investor and managing partner of Catalyst Communications DMCC, which he founded in Dubai in 2018. He was previously based in Vancouver, where he founded Founders Round Capital in 2017 and built a track record of investments in early-stage and small-cap companies. He earned a finance degree from McGill University in 2004 and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Before turning to investing, he spent more than a decade with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Middle East, rising to director and focusing on transaction due diligence and valuation.

Media Contact
Catalyst Communications DMCC
catalyst-wire@protonmail.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/yazan-al-homsi-invests-us500-000-in-toronto-drone-maker-arcanus-aerial-systems-302918414.html

SOURCE Yazan Al Homsi

Continue Reading

Trending