Pebble took to Kickstarter to fund its next-generation smartwatch, shattering its funding target just hours into the process.

The company was looking to raise $500,000, but by 10am today (25 February) the total had passed $8 million. The first 10,000 backers could get Pebble Time for $159, which then increased to $179 – regular retail price will be $199.

Pebble explained its return to Kickstarter – where it originally funded its first product – by stating: “Even though we’ve grown tremendously since then, we’re still a small company battling some of the largest competitors in the world.” It has shipped 1 million products to date.

Pebble Time has “a new timeline interface”, a colour e-paper display, and microphone to respond to notifications. It also offers up to 7 days of battery life, water resistance and customisability, and supports all the existing “6,500+” Pebble apps and watchfaces.

The company said that compared with other display technologies such as OLED or LCD, e-paper displays minimise power consumption, enabling it to maintain its power consumption. The device is also 20 per cent thinner than the original Pebble smartwatch.

Pebble’s timeline interface is accompanied by three buttons, for “past” (for example missed emails, step counts), present, and future (calendars and alarms). Timeline will also work with existing Pebble and Pebble Steel devices in future.

Development of the device is “nearly complete”, Pebble said, with watches featured on its Kickstarter page built on its production line.