Despite Isreali-based Consumer Physics, an OurCrowd portfolio company, announcing its Kickstarter project, SCiO, is being delivered to backers two years after successfully securing $2,762,571, the crowdfunding portal shut down the project’s page and revealed that Consumer Physics was hit with intellectual property dispute.
SCiO was described as “the world’s first affordable molecular sensor that fits in the palm of your hand.” It is a tiny spectrometer and allows users to get instant, relevant information about the chemical make-up of just about anything around the user, sent directly to their smartphone. The SCiO Mobile App allows the user to choose a specific SCiO application from the available options. Once the user chooses the app they need, they are ready to scan.
Unfortunately, the project experienced some delays since the highly successful campaign. Dror Sharon, CEO of Consumer Physics reportedly explained the delays were caused by an unanticipated design. He noted:
“We started to ship units in April 2015, but as we ramped up production we discovered issues – sometimes with our parts, sometimes with our designs.”
Before the shutdown of the SCiO Kickstarter page, Consumer Physics announced that backers are continuing to receive their devices.
Unfortunately, the company was met with more criticism, with one backer stating, “So how do these pictures illustrate that Scio is continuing to ship? Customer Support stated that I had to buy a Scio from their website to expedite shipping although I was an Early-Bird backer on Kickstarter.”
Another commenter shared, “You do realize that as long as you don’t ship to your kickstarter backers and other buyers, and you continue to get unhappy public messages from them, possible buyers (like me) will not buy your product. You’re losing trust, and you’re losing money.”
Another backer revealed they did receive the SCiO, but noted, “I got mine & its of no use it does not detect anything apart from Tylenol and ibrufin.”
Consumer Physics has yet to respond to the Kickstarter shut down.
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