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Tech

Tim Cook Wants to Improve Your Morning Shower

Silicon Valley heavy hitters back water-saving shower head startup.
Photo courtesy Nibea

Two of Silicon Valley's most powerful executives, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt (by way of his Schmidt Family Foundation), have invested in a six-person startup called Nebia, which is developing a high-end shower head that's far more efficient than the kind used every morning by most Americans.

The shower head, which is expected to retail for $400 when it's released next year, uses an estimated 70 percent less water than traditional shower heads—ideal for California and other areas routinely battling drought. The shower head does so by breaking up (or "atomizing" in the company's parlance) water into millions of small droplets that cover 10 times more surface area than traditional shower heads.

One of the company's co-founders, CEO Phillip Winter, went so far as to tell Wired that stepping into a Nibea shower is akin to "stepping into a warm cloud." Modest!

While Nibea has so far declined to say how much money it has raised—Apple is also quick to point out that Cook's investment is a personal one—the company did just successfully raise $130,000 (and counting) in extra funding on Kickstarter to assist development.

Nibea hopes to bring the shower head to market in May 2016.