UHWK, the maker of a lightweight video camera that athletes can wear during their games, launched a Kickstarter campaign for its initial project this week and has already raised more than half its target.

Founded by hockey players Shea Kewin and Tim Priamo, Kitchener-based UHWK has developed a camera that fits on the forehead of an athlete. The core market is hockey players, so it can snap on to a hockey helmet with ease. But it also comes with a headstrap so that it can be applied to any sport.

On Tuesday, Kewin and Priamo launched a Kickstarter campaign for the product with a goal of selling $40,000. As of this morning, 143 backers had signed on accounting for sales of $26,544. Two different backers have pledged $1,240, for which they will each receive 10 of the devices. There are still 27 days to go in the campaign.

“I am pleased to see that our most inner community has stepped behind us to back our campaign,” said Kewin in an email. “It shows a great wealth of validation of the work we have done to build that rapport with them.”

Kewin and Priamo, who played hockey together as kids growing up in Guelph, have been working on UHWK for about two years. They conceived a wearable device that lets players record what they see as they play a game or practice. They can then review it later on a mobile or computer device, and share it with coaches or other players. For hockey players, it can instantly tell them whether they have their heads down when they’re stick-handling and how they view the rink.

The device weighs only 1.5 ounces, switches on and off easily and stores up to 10 hours of video.

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A former member of the Dalhousie University varsity team, Kewin had already been working on one startup in Halifax, Spring Loaded Technology. (The company has continued and will soon launch its flagship product, a knee brace that strengthens as well as stabilizes the joint.)

Two years ago, Kewin left Halifax to study in Fredericton, and he and Priamo started the latest company, then called HWKI. After working with the Planet Hatch accelerator in Fredericton, they were accepted into the Velocity Foundry, the University of Waterloo’s accelerator for startups producing hardware. So they took the company to southern Ontario, to benefit from the tech segment in Kitchener-Waterloo and to be in the heart of the largest amateur hockey community in the world.

“Hockey is definitely where our roots are,” said Kewin. “We have a particular focus on engaging the hockey community from the outset, but recognize we have ended up making a better camera for everyone.”

The various iterations of the hardware have produced a product that can be used in a range of sports, even those without helmets such as basketball, soccer and golf. In fact, the company’s “flagship athlete” is the top lacrosse player in the world right now, Ryan Benesch.

“Our goal is to be recognized as the No. 1 choice for athletes and not just hockey players,” said Kewin. “Athletes immediately are drawn to its appeal and the value than can get be seeing the game from their vantage point.”