# Wearhaus

> Wearhaus was a Berkeley hardware startup built around one sharp contradiction: headphones isolate people, while music connects them. Its $199 Wearhaus Arc paired ordinary Bluetooth listening with synchronized, nearby audio sharing, touch controls, a mobile app, and glowing customizable earcup rings. The product reached thousands of backers and retail shelves, but its signature feature depended on other Arc owners being physically nearby - a network effect that had to be purchased two headphones at a time.

- **Founded:** 2013
- **Headquarters:** Berkeley, United States
- **Founders:** Richie Zeng (Co-founder and CEO), Nelson Zhang (Co-founder and CTO)
- **Products:** Wearhaus Arc, Wearhaus mobile app
- **Notable:** Reached a $75,000 self-hosted crowdfunding goal in June 2014., Raised $247,379 from 1,240 Kickstarter backers., Shipped more than 2,600 units by July 2015; contemporary reporting put the early installed base near 3,000 pairs.

## Products & services

- **Wearhaus Arc** — On-ear Bluetooth headphones with synchronized nearby audio sharing, a companion iOS/Android app, capacitive touch controls, customizable light rings, a microphone, and wired AUX fallback.
- **Wearhaus mobile app** — Companion software for controlling sharing, discovering nearby Arc broadcasts, customizing light colors and behaviors, and managing headphone settings.

## Achievements

- Reached a $75,000 self-hosted crowdfunding goal in June 2014.
- Raised $247,379 from 1,240 Kickstarter backers.
- Shipped more than 2,600 units by July 2015; contemporary reporting put the early installed base near 3,000 pairs.
- Raised a $4 million Series A in November 2016 to increase production and fulfill retail demand.
- Reached brick-and-mortar distribution at Fry's Electronics by April 2017.
- An Unbox Therapy feature about Arc surpassed 1.6 million views.

## Latest updates

- **2017-07** — The Kickstarter project logged its last public update date on July 26, 2017.
- **2017-04** — Arc became available in Fry's Electronics stores.
- **2017-02** — Unbox Therapy demonstrated Arc's broadcast feature in a video that later passed 1.6 million views.
- **2016-11** — Wearhaus announced a $4 million Series A intended to expand production and support retail orders.

## Links

- Website: http://wearhaus.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearhaus
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/wearhausinc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearhausinc

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/wearhaus
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-28