We are always looking for the next big thing in foodtech here at The Spoon and one of the first places we look is Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
But covering a campaign doesn’t guarantee success and, even when a product hits or exceeds its funding target, success doesn’t always mean shipping product. With that in mind, we thought we’d check back in on some of campaigns we’ve covered to see if they reached their funding goals and how close they are to shipping to backers.
Project: A chopping board + food scale in one
Funded? No. Raised just $1,239 (Canadian) of a $50,000 goal
GardenSpace
Project: A connected watering device for home gardens.
Funded? Yes. Raised $34,069
Delivering? No. Campaign creators said they did not receive the minimum number of orders, so they said they are refunding all backers.
Project: A combination of frozen meal kit delivery and countertop steam cooker.
Funded? Yes. Raised €79,151.
Delivering? Mealhero is using the money to expand farther into Europe, said it will roll out in Belgium and The Netherlands in September 2018.
Project: A silicon spatula you affix to a fork to scrape up sauce.
Funded? Yes. Raised $11,215 (Canadian)
Delivering? In a Kickstarter update on December 17, campaign creators said people who bought Forktulas should expect them to arrive “any day now!”
Project: Kids’ lunch meal delivery service.
Funded? Yes. Raised $30,977
Delivering? Nomsly was already delivering lunches in the Boston area, and was using the money to buy equipment and expand into New York and Philadelphia.
Project: Floating alarm that beeps when your water is boiling
Funded? Yes. Raised $10,088
Delivering? A campaign update in December said the company was on track to deliver devices by the end of January 2018.
Project: Countertop beer brewing appliance
Funded? Yes. Raises $1.1 million
Delivering? No. Shipment of devices has been delayed until July 2018.
Project: Home beer brewing system
Funded? Yes. Raised $33,957
Delivering? Yes. According to comments left on Kickstarter in October, people were receiving their devices. BeerDroid and BrewFlo are available for purchase on the BrewArt site, on Amazon as well as, of all places, select Bloomingdales locations.
Project: Countertop beer brewing appliance
Funded? Yes. Raised $382,321
Delivering: Estimated delivery for backers is June 2018.
Project: Countertop yogurt maker
Funded? Yes. Raised $136,808
Delivering? Estimated delivery is April 2018
While this is a small sample size, it looks like crowdfunding is still a robust option for the right foodtech device. Fulfillment, especially for higher-end devices remains a challenge and something potential backers should still be wary of. We’ll keep tabs to see how shipments scheduled for later this year go.
Do you have a cool project going up on Kickstarter? Send me an email and let me know.
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