Local entrepreneur Ned Pearson—whose company, AudioBomb, took off two years ago with the introduction of an inexpensive, collapsible, Bluetooth speaker—is rolling out two new products that won rave reviews at a trade show earlier this year.
One is a small, solar-powered portable power bank called the Solar Reflex that enables users to charge two devices simultaneously. The other is a waterproof Bluetooth speaker, the Whaley, that floats in water and can be paired with a second Whaley to create stereo sound. The new products, which retail for $40 and $60 respectively, join AudioBomb’s older product, the Squish, which is a small, water resistant—though not waterproof—Bluetooth speaker.
“When we demo’d at the trade show in Orlando we were the go-to booth,” says Pearson, whose family owns Pearson’s Luggage and Gifts. “People were crowding around to see what we had. We think it is going to be a good season.”
AudioBomb’s new products come after a year of change for the start-up company. In the fall of 2013, Pearson bought out his co-founder and former partner, Adam Yglesias, though two other partners in the company—Texas-based techies Bin Yu and Leo Zhao—remain key players in AudioBomb. The company also discontinued its original product, the Spartan, a small, portable Bluetooth speaker that didn’t have any water-resistant properties. AudioBomb now focuses solely on the poolside market, and sells almost exclusively through distributors that sell swimming pool supplies and equipment.
“We killed the Spartan because the market was oversaturated—collapsible Bluetooth speakers are everywhere,” Pearson says. “But waterproof Bluetooth speakers—affordable, quality, waterproof speakers—that’s something different.”
Because 2014 was such a year of transition the company has not grown much revenue-wise since 2013, when sales were in the $750,000 range, Pearson says. This year, he expects revenues to top $1 million.
—Stephanie Riegel
