Serial entrepreneur Mark Krause has moved from cleaning carpets in college to Internet startups in the 2000s to
Cyclops Gear, where he's making action-sports cameras mounted in snowsports and motorsports goggles and sunglasses.
"The lightbulb for Cyclops was seeing the GoPro," says Krause. "The technology for GoPro was great three and a half years ago, but today we can do better. Technology has caught up."
The Cyclops Gear way of doing better embeds the camera into sunglasses and goggles and not a box that's mounted on top of a helmet. "When you use our goggles for skiing and snowboarding, you press a button to record video and forget about it," says Krause. The USB-compatible products record on flash memory cards and feature three video settings and a wide angle lens.
Krause launched the company in late 2012 and now the catalog is entering a second generation of products.
New for July 2013 is the CGLIFE2 sunglasses ($149.99), featuring 1080p HD with a 15-megapixel still camera. "They're for everything," says Krause of the target market. "They're for everyday use."
Next Cyclops Gear will release new 1080p HD snowsports goggles in September.
Cyclops Gear sponsors Indycar driver Pippa Mann and recently inked a deal with Canadian Tire. "Sales are great," says Krause.
Krause just moved the company out of Creative Density in Uptown and consolidated distribution in Long Beach, California. Manufacturing takes place in China. Now working with a network of about five contractors amd consultants, Krause says he anticipates hiring as many as three people in Denver in the near term.
Contact Confluence Denver Innovation & Jobs News Editor Eric Peterson with tips and leads for future stories at eric@confluence-denver.com.
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