Like something out of a horror movie, beer brewing automation startup iGulu has come back from the dead, reanimating into something resembling a startup trying to bring a product to market.
The company, whose demise was well-documented here on The Spoon, apparently never gave up on its dream of delivering a beer-brewing appliance. Over the last year, the company’s CEO, Shu Zhang, has been posting updates on both Kickstarter and Indiegogo (they raised funds on both platforms) about the company’s progress in paying down its debt and cobbling a new team together.
In an April update, Zhang said the company had paid down its debt and was hunting for new financing. Zhang also said the company had hired new product designers.
At present, our team of Home-machine Project includes professional, experienced and top-notch specialists in software, hardware, beer technology, structure, etc., constituting the strong R&D lineup of related products.
In a July update, Zhang said the team numbered ten and that they had decided to change the machine’s design from its original all-in-one brewing concept into two pieces of hardware.
There will be two products. One is the mashing machine for enthusiasts and deep players, from whole malt to wort; Another one is the beer capsule appliance, from wort to beer; The design capacity of the machine is about 1 gallon.
In an October update, Zhang gives a volume production date (end of 2023) and more details on the two-machine concept:
…the new machine will be implemented in two products. The first product will Mash making wort from grain. This product is designed for traditional home brewing enthusiasts. It supports high efficiency and high quality wort generation with your own recipes. The other machine is a fermentor and dispensing machine, this will support fermentation of both wort, and malt extract. The dispensing tap will be a disposable pipe design. It will also be capable of holding some existing commercial beer capsules (like 5L Heineken Beer Keg) for instant drinking. We are currently mid way through the design process for the new product.
Zhang’s explanation of the transition from one brewing appliance to two is a little confusing since he never clarifies if iGulu intends to send both machines to original backers. The original machine takes care of the entire brew process from grains to glass, but one needs both of iGulu’s new product family to create a drinkable glass of beer from scratch. It appears most backers are assuming they will get both, but strangely Zhang talks about the two machines as if they are targeting different audiences when he explains the wort-making appliance as being designed “for enthusiasts.”
With all the confusion, product pauses, restarts, and time passed (nearly seven years at this point), I expected most backers to dismiss Zhang’s reboot on the iGulu. Instead, while a good chunk is predictably skeptical, some encourage Zhang to keep plugging.
For my part, I’m doubtful iGulu ever makes it to market and would advise against any new or existing backer giving the company any money. With the likelihood of little to no new crowdfund money coming in, the company has a tough road ahead in raising additional capital to help get it over the finish line. The success rate of home brewing appliances has not been encouraging, and investors are taking an ever-more-skeptical eye toward every investment nowadays.
All that said, the company has survived longer than anyone could have predicted and still has a pulse, so we’ll be keeping an eye on how things shake out next year.
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