Breathometer

Breathometer was a device that claimed to measure someone's blood alcohol content using their iOS and Android smartphones. However, the app proved unreliable, and was shut down by the Federal Trade Commission. Breathometer was founded in September 2013 by Charles Michael Yim, who is the company’s current CEO. The company is headquartered in Burlingame, CA.
Company history.
Breathometer was founded in 2012 by Charles Michael Yim, a serial entrepreneur who had earlier founded three startup companies including Chatterfly, a mobile loyalty platform for businesses that was acquired by Plum District in December 2011. Yim noted that there were no commercial breathalyzers for the smartphone market, and the only portable breathalyzers commercially available were both expensive and impractical for users to take with them on a night out.
The company was partly funded through preorders collected via an Indiegogo crowd-sourcing campaign, which ran until April 2013. The campaign’s original goal was to raise $25,000, but by the time it closed, it had raised $138,000.
In September 2013, Yim appeared on Shark Tank, he originally asked for $250,000 for a 10% stake in Breathometer, but all five “sharks” ended up investing a total of $1 million for a collective 30% stake in the company.
Controversy.
Product refunds.
According to the complaint, sales of Original and Breeze totaled $5.1 million. The order required the company to pay full refunds to consumers who request them.
Products.
The Breathometer.
The Breathometer was a small device that plugged into the audio jack of a smartphone, coupled with a dedicated app that reads the user’s blood alcohol content (BAC). The app utilizes the smartphone to provide the processing power, which allows the device to be small enough to fit on a standard keychain. If the user’s BAC level is over the legal limit, the app displays one-click calls to local taxi services, friends from contact lists living close by, or local hotels.
Sample beta units were handed out at the 2013 SXSW in Austin, TX.
Mint.
The company has since expanded its mission. Breathometer plans to release the Mint, an oral health tracker that tells the user if they have bad breath. Sensors in the device track biomarkers associated with bad breath and have the potential to measure compounds that correlate to gum disease. The company has a partnership with Philips in the area of oral hygiene.