Tagged: fail

December 16, 2019 @ 11:46 am By Cali Haan  |  

Representatives from Grant Thornton have published their Liquidator’s Second Report regarding collapsed New Zealand cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia. Just prior to its dissolution in May, Cryptopia had over 2.2 million registered users worldwide and 37 employees, Grant Thornton (GT) claims. Hackers are believed to have stolen… Read More

August 27, 2017 @ 6:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

We have another contestant for the Hall of Shame when it comes to failed pre-sale campaigns. Kanoa, a company that was attempting to compete with Apple and bring wireless earbuds to market, shut down their company this week as they encountered a one two punch… Read More

September 25, 2016 @ 9:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

Hidden Radio was an early Kickstarter success. Co-founded by John Van Den Nieuwenhuizen and Vitor Santa Maria their very first rewards project raised over $930,000 for a stylish blue-tooth connected radio. Over 5300 backers signed up to receive one or more of the speakers. The response was… Read More

August 6, 2016 @ 10:04 am By JD Alois  |  

This is becoming a too consistent theme. Promising rewards crowdfunding project raises millions of dollars from thousands of backers only to deliver (if at all) a craptaculous product. In this case, it is the story of ONAGOFly – a drone project that raised $3,459,193 on… Read More

February 29, 2016 @ 12:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

SharkDesign launched their NuDock product on Indiegogo last year where it quickly raised over $780,000. The cool looking power station was perfect for Apple fans combining docks for an iPhone, Apple Watch, spare battery and an LED light to present everything like tech-art. As the… Read More

January 15, 2016 @ 1:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

“Despite knowing that Bitcoin could fail all along, the now inescapable conclusion that it has failed still saddens me greatly. The fundamentals are broken and whatever happens to the price in the short term, the long term trend should probably be downwards. I will no… Read More

January 13, 2016 @ 11:00 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Back in July 2014, developer Epic Minds launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to raise funds for its new 2D inspired video game, Midora. During its time on the platform, the initiative captured nearly $75,000 from over 3300 backers. Unfortunately, after nearly a year of developing, Epic… Read More

November 16, 2015 @ 7:54 am By JD Alois  |  

Robot Dragonfly Drone Fails to Take Flight There are plenty of examples of rewards-based crowdfunding campaigns that failed to deliver. It is part of the risk a backer shoulders when they commit their funds. Today, as the ecosystem has evolved, many projects are becoming more… Read More

March 17, 2014 @ 11:43 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Design to Matter has placed their name on two dubious crowdfunding campaigns. We reported on both in the Summer of 2013 and pointed out that the scenario raised some ethical questions about crowdfunding. Their first campaign, a Kickstarter for the Instacube, is actually said to… Read More

March 2, 2014 @ 12:12 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Pro tip: If you want to leak out pictures of your company’s new and improved smartwatch, make sure you don’t have a bunch of crowdfunding deliveries hanging over your head. This is the problem Omate is forced to deal with now. The following Facebook post… Read More

March 2, 2014 @ 11:25 am By Charles Luzar  |  

In May of 2012 a campaign for a printed book of web comics was fully funded, having raised $50,000 on a goal of $8,000. The web comics were hosted at PicturesForSadChildren.com. The book is called “Sad Pictures For Children.” Now the project has become a… Read More

March 1, 2014 @ 12:09 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Design To Matter’s crowdfunding campaign for the Instacube stands as a cautionary tale for would-be crowdfunding backers. After a successful $620,000+ raise on Kickstarter, the campaign has been mired with turnover, internal strife, delivery issues and refund requests. I also proposed that D2M’s involvement in another… Read More

January 16, 2014 @ 2:06 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Y Combinator-backed Apigy created Lockitron just as the connected home movement was really taking off. The company promised some pretty slick features. The device integrated with your home’s deadbolt and promised to allow things like remote unlocking from a smartphone. It was even said to have… Read More

January 13, 2014 @ 11:05 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Crowdfunding failure isn’t always necessarily accompanied by crowd outrage and demands of refunds. This is proven in a recent series of backer updates from indie game developer Roxlou Games, and specifically from company founder Joe Houston. Roxlou and Houston turned to Kickstarter to fund a… Read More

December 10, 2013 @ 12:18 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Did I ever mention I love Quora? I especially love Yancey Strickler’s presence on Quora, where he occasionally answers questions from the crowd regarding his crowdfunding platform – Kickstarter – and some of their practices and inner-workings. This week he answered the question of why… Read More

December 9, 2013 @ 9:45 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Quartz | 2014 is the year of the internet of things—no, seriously, we mean it this time The “Internet of Things” movement is alive and growing and Quartz predicts that things will really take off in 2014. Of course, crowdfunding stands to be front and center… Read More

September 20, 2013 @ 10:41 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Subutai Corporation is a Seattle-based firm founded to “create stories, games, graphic novels and filmed entertainment in an integrated style.” One interesting factoid that likely helped draw backers into their Kickstarter campaign: famed American author and game designer Neal Stephenson is a co-founder. In a… Read More

August 26, 2013 @ 9:56 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Earlier this month we brought you the story of Precinct, a video game that had a cancelled Kickstarter campaign to its name. The team behind the game had turned to WordPress crowdfunding plugin IgnitionDeck in order to roll their own funding platform solution. The team… Read More

August 2, 2013 @ 10:17 am By Charles Luzar  |  

UK-based crowdfunding platform CrowdCube has long been a global leader in the equity crowdfunding space. Recently the platform met a huge milestone: over £10 million in equity raised for startups and small businesses in the UK. CrowdCube has a dynamic infographic that updates regularly, and… Read More

July 26, 2013 @ 9:30 am By Charles Luzar  |  

A campaign launched for a board game called “The Doom That Came To Atlantic City” raised $122,000, closing funding on June 6th of last year. Over 1200 backers chipped in. The campaign was launched by The Forking Path, a Portland, Oregon based game developer and… Read More