The heyday of hardware Kickstarter may be behind us (Coolest Cooler anyone?), but occasionally, a project emerges with the right blend of a captivating promotional video, impressive specs, and promise of a better life to lure in thousands of backers.
Meticulous Espresso seems to tick all those boxes, and as of this writing, the result is 2,700+ backers pledging over $3.5 million for the sleek-looking coffee machine.
Why all the excitement? A couple of thoughts:
First, the Meticulous Espresso machine boasts an eye-catching industrial design packed with cool features. It appears sleeker and more futuristic than your average metal knob-laden home espresso machine, and this design is paired with impressive-sounding technology, including six temperature sensors, a pressure sensor, an integrated scale, and a satisfyingly straightforward digital interface.
Second, the intro video. I usually get bored watching long Kickstarter intro videos, but this one weaved together a nice enough mix of creator vision story, intriguing product features, and attention to the coffee-making craft to keep me glued to the end of its 5 minutes plus. The video was made by Adam Lisagor, a well-known ad whiz, actor, and podcaster that’s been in demand for his commercials via his Sandwich video production shop for over a decade. Lisagor often appears in the ads he makes (and sometimes takes equity in the companies in exchange for video work), and in this video, he costars next to company founder Carlos Pendas.
Pendas himself does a good job of describing his mission and talking up the machine’s features, including the ability for users to create, save and share personalized espresso profiles through the Meticulous app. While profile sharing to different locations would require others to also own a Meticulous – a tall order given the machine’s $2,000 MSRP ($1,500 on Kickstarter) – I do like the idea of being to replicate my best espresso formulations and also sharing a profile with others using the same machine.
Whatever the reason for Meticulous’s fast start on Kickstarter, the machine has already entered rarified air in terms of funding raised, already eclipsing several top campaigns in the food category, including PicoBrew and Anova. With about 30 days remaining in the campaign, Meticulous could become the highest-funded food-related hardware campaign if it reaches around $5 million in backing, which would allow it to overtake the Otto G32 grill.
However, it’s important to note that Kickstarter success doesn’t always translate to successful products or companies. We all know what happened to PicoBrew, and while both Otto and Silo appear to still be breathing, the companies’ backers have been complaining for years as the companies behind them delay and delay delivery.
But who knows? Maybe the Meticulous will be different and ship the product on time. For its backers, here’s hoping they get their machines by December 2023
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