Trago Bottle With AppThe era of the smart water bottle connected to the Internet that tracks water consumption has arrived.

It’s the Internet of Things in action.

And Austin-based Trago is making a smart water bottle that will measure hydration and help the average athletes improve performance.

Trago, founded by brothers Jac and Davis Saltzgiver, launched a Kickstarter campaign on June 2 and they hit their $50,000 goal in ten days. They’ve so far raised nearly $61,000 from 695 backers.

“We want to help people understand how much they should be drinking,” Jac Saltzgiver said.

Hydration is critical for athletes. Drinking too little water can result in heatstroke and sometimes death. Drinking too much water is also a problem and can result in hyponatremia, a condition in which the blood lacks sodium and it can also be fatal.

Trago’s patent pending water bottle measures how much a person drinks. It sells for $49 on Kickstarter and connects to a smartphone and other wearable devices and allows a person to set, and measure hydration goals. The Trago Cap fits on any wide-mouth water bottle.

For athletes, hydration is key to performance. The amount of water a person should drink varies on activity level, weight, height, age, temperature, location and more, Saltzgiver said.

Jac and Davis Saltzgiver have been working on the project for a year. They plan to use the money from their Kickstarter to further their product development and pay its engineers to finalize the product development.

But they are not the only smart water bottle raising funds on Kickstarter right now. HidrateMe has raised $356,000 from 4,666 backers far surpassing its $35,000 goal with 23 days to go.