Business graduate sells Jaybird for $95 million

Griffith business graduate and Jaybird CEO Judd Armstrong
Griffith business graduate, Judd Armstrong, has his sold Jaybird wearable technology company.

Griffith Business School graduate, Judd Armstrong, has sold his wearable technology company, Jaybird, for $US95 million to giant Swiss technology firm Logitech.

The deal is worth approximately $50 million in cash, with an additional earn-out of up to $45 million based on achievement of growth targets over the next two years.

Jaybird was set up in Utah by entrepreneur Judd Armstrong in 2006, and has grown into one of the world’s largest sellers of wireless audio wearables for sports and active lifestyles.

“It has been anincredible journey.We love what we do, and we’re stoked to continue to innovate and bring amazing new products to our fans,” Judd Armstrong, a Bachelor of International Business graduate, said.

“Jaybird will benefit from Logitech’s global distribution network and deep engineering prowess. We’ve watched as they’ve connected incredible products with passionate consumers under the UE brand, and we’re thrilled to be part of the team.”

Jaybird has pioneered premium wireless audio for sports through its focus on bringing music to active lifestyles. Their award-winning BlueBuds X and, more recently, X2 wireless buds enjoy a strong following among the active lifestyle set, especially in the US.

Judd Armstrong has previously highlighted the education and technological knowledge gained at Griffith University, and its role in getting his business both started and successful.

“One of the great technologies we were able to leverage was Griffith expertise in the ability to detect the movements of different sporting activities,” he said.

“Griffith has been working with professional athletes and sporting teams for a long, long time. So we took some of their technology and rolled that into a consumer product.”

The technology integral to the development of Jaybird’s ‘Reign’ lifestyle band is the SABEL human movement monitoring system, developed at Griffith’s SABEL Labs headed by Associate Professor Danny James. Members of the team working with Jaybird included Ray Leadbetter and Jonathan Neville.

The wearable fitness and health monitoring market has boomed in the last three years and includes companies such as FitBit, Garman and Nike Fuel. The sector is expected to grow to from $20 billion in 2015 to almost $70 billion in 2025.

Founded in 1981, Logitech International is a Swiss public company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (LOGN) and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (LOGI).