Are toilet nightlights the next big trend?
Out of all the strange inventions that plague the world, from the Candwich to Shutter Shades, no one would have suspected the toilet nightlights, IllumiBowls, would be the next big trend.
How many times has someone stumbled around in the dark just to get to the bathroom? Or have been blinded by bright lights? The IllumiBowls help people avoid fumbling around in the dark and make late night trips to the toilet a little easier.
“I told my brother-in-law, and soon-to-be co-founder, about this idea at a family reunion,” said co-founder Matt Alexander in an interview with Forbes. “Upon telling him, he asked, ‘Why not just put the light on the toilet?’ So we began researching online, assuming it had to already exist, and were shocked to find there were still no good solutions invented yet.”
The IllumiBowl is motion activated and light sensitive, so it only illuminates at night when someone enters the bathroom. The small device clings to the side of the bowel with suction cups and comes in a variety of colors, including red, orange, green, teal, blue, purple, pink and white.
The product has been available for purchase outside of Kickstarter for nearly one month after debuting on Shark Tank, a reality show in which people present their inventions to a panel of investors, on March 11.
Co-creators Alexander and Michael Kannely pitched their idea to the investors of Shark Tank and, according to Forbes, one of the investors, Kevin O’Leary, offered them $100,000 for 25 percent of the company, to which they agreed.
“We are on a mission,” it states on their website. “After one too many midnight bumps, bruises and alien abductions occurring while on route to rendezvous with the porcelain throne, IllumiBowl was born.”
Their original Kickstarter for the IllumiBowls ended in 2014, earning 3,297 backers and raising $95,399.
The IllumiBowl is sold on Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond and on the IllumiBowl website for $19.99.
As the creators said on Shark Tank, “At IllumiBowl, our main priorities are number one … and number two.”