851% Funded

Amid the cacophony of elaborate projects in the warehouse at the 2011 Maker Faire, the simplicity of The Oona emerged.

Three holes, a chunk of metal and suction cups. That’s basically it. By moving the suction cup from one hole to another, the functionality of the stand changes, said Oona’s co-creator Brad Leong, 25.

Stick suction cups to two ends of it and “you create a stand that will let you stick your phone to your windshield, so you can use the GPS on your phone while you drive,” Leong said, doing so with the prototype he held in his hand. 

He said the suction cups are versatile enough to stick to glass and metal surfaces, so you can stick it to your ‘fridge, or your kitchen counter. 

The idea for The Oona emerged in part from the need to make schematics more accessible. Leong does contract work that requires the use of these diagrams, and usually gets them in old-school paper format. Instead of fiddling with large pieces of paper, “I would take photos of the schematics and then look at them on my phone," Leong said.  

But the process of taking his phone out of his pocket to view it became cumbersome after a while. So he and his team of friends ideated a phone stand that would let him stick his phone to the metal surface of his projects.  They used the workspace and tools at the to create a prototype made of aircraft grade aluminum that has an anodized surface.  And so The Oona was born.

This is no cheap plastic phone stand.  You could throw it at a wall and it wouldn’t have a scratch on it.

But you can't get it quite yet; the Oona is still in the prototype phase. This is where Kickstarter comes in.  The guys didn’t have the money to manufacture the project, so they put it on Kickstarter, which is a way to crowdsource funding for projects.  Inventors and designers post their plans on the site, naming a target amount that they need to bring the project to life.  Anyone who is interested in seeing the idea come to life can pledge any amount of money to make that happen.

“We originally asked for $10,000, but are way past that,” Leong said.  The project currently has 2,579 backers who have pledged $85,198 to see the project to fruition.  I.e. it’s about 851 percent funded.  Not bad for their first product. On June 3rd  the project will close on the site, and the guys will start cranking them out.  

You can preorder The Ooona for $25 on the site, or get it for about $30 when it hits the market.