Disclosure and disclaimer: 1, I worked at Mobbu until Jan 2015, and I have a beneficial interest in it doing well in future, so I have bias. 2, This is obviously not investment or financial advice. 3, I don't officially speak for Mobbu. 4, Read the investment notices on Seedrs.
Mobbu is raising funds on Seedrs for PassWear, a software product that improves the security of apps and data on mobile phones. You use PassWear by simply taking a photo of your watch. It uses strong crypto and a wearable smartwatch to replace passwords or add a second security factor. The result is manageable mobile security and reduced training/support costs for the customer and quicker and easier experience for their users.
Should you invest? Some questions:
Is the PassWear product any good?
Yes. Security software products are inherently complex - they're harder to immediately grasp than something we use or encounter daily like a cup of coffee. So there's a fair bit to read here and here, but in truth a key part of any good solution must be to simplify, manage or hide that inherent complexity for the people that will use the product. Several years' work has gone into the product and testers have always praised its speed and ease of use. My view: the product is strong and going in the right direction.
Do Mobbu know what they're doing?
Yes. The team is very smart and capable across the product/technology/security spectrum (and it's fair to say that I greatly miss working with and learning from them). They're very committed, and in the last couple of years have become experts in the field of development for wearables. There's a real track record of customer and financial delivery too, both on the PassWear project itself and before that, with product delivery to challenging markets where public safety was critical.
But is there a need? Who cares about security anyway?
Yes. Many individuals don't care about security - eg they use the same passwords everywhere, decline to use two factor authentication where offered etc - though that may change over time as (regrettably) identity theft and other breaches grow and touch more people. But I believe many businesses and public sector organisations have a need now: it's 2015 and a large variety of mobile devices/networks are used as the primary means for accessing or creating valuable corporate data (viz BYOD), which also means a harder job for IT security teams. And the risks of data loss are real. For more on the market, see here.
But PassWear relies on people having smartwatches - is anyone buying them?
Yes. The past 12 months have seen the smartwatch market grow significantly. Samsung and Pebble have done pretty well. Apple don't release sales numbers for their Watch, but they hinted at 3+m units and $1bn revenue in the first 90 days and I'd guess Apple Watch's year 1 sales will be 10-20m.
Will I definitely make money from my investment?
No. If you need a guaranteed return, you shouldn't be investing in businesses on Seedrs. Invest in something safer like a fixed rate cash ISA, though your return - the interest paid - is going to be low. When you invest in companies you're obtaining a chance of making a large return - the risk of failure is higher, but the expected reward will also be higher if the business performs well. Any investment you make should match your aims and your attitude to risk, and yeah it's good to talk to an independent financial advisor.