Teforia, the startup behind a high-end, $1,500 tea infuser, is closing down. The company announced the closure via an open letter on its site (full text below).
With its high design and granular levels of tea customization, the Teforia captured a lot of attention at our inaugural Smart Kitchen Summit in 2015. The company went on to raise more than $17 million in funding.
But $1,500 is a steep price to steep tea. Reviews were mixed. And hand-blown artisan glass globes weren’t enough to fend off cheaper competitors, such as the Gourmia tea brewer.
Between Teforia and Juicero closing down, it seems as though there is only so much consumers are willing to pay for a specialized drink maker.
We don’t cheer for any company closing here, and hopefully other smart-kitchen appliance makers can learn from Teforia’s missteps. If you are a tea aficionado and curious about the Teforia, they are discounted down to $199 for the limited quantities left.
Here’s the Teforia letter:
Dear Teforia Customers and Partners,
Thank you for being our companion in our journey to elevate the tea experience. From day one we set out to deliver the best tea experience possible, from sourcing the best all-natural tea in the world, to development of the perfect recipes (with tea masters) to developing the most sophisticated and powerful infusion technology.
Your support, feedback and encouragement has fueled our drive on this journey. Even though we’re only sold in the U.S., Teforia Infusers are actively used in twenty different countries, four different continents, and have made almost half-a-million servings of tea in the past nine months.
In our mission to deliver the best tea experience, we didn’t compromise on the Teforia Infuser technology, quality or the premium tea packaged within our Sips. The glass within the infusion globe and carafe are hand blown by a glass artisan, one at a time. We spent a tremendous amount of time pioneering our Sips tea container to be 90% compostable and completely recyclable. We went to these extraordinary lengths because we believe premium loose leaf tea should be delivered in the most delicate and sustainable way possible.
We believe our customers are deserving of the best. Most of you agree with us. In fact, the prestigious World Tea Expo awarded Teforia with the 2016 Best Tea Industry Innovation Award and designated Teforia as the 2017 Best Tea Brewing Device.
We achieved all of this with a most amazing team of 15 highly passionate and highly skilled professionals, with the common belief that the tea experience should be simpler, more elegant and more rewarding.
However, the reality of our business is that it would take a lot more financing and time to educate the market and we simply couldn’t raise the funds required in what is a very difficult time for hardware companies in the smart kitchen space.
Therefore, it is with heavy hearts that we are announcing that all business operations, for Teforia Company, will cease effective today. We will continue to seek a partner that can leverage Teforia technology and/or provide Sips tea sales to continue our mission of elevating the tea experience. Hopefully you will see Teforia technology in future products.
How this affects you:
To ensure you can enjoy our delicious, premium tea as much as possible, you can purchase your favorite Sips and accessories (at a 50% discount) until Friday, November 3rd. Stock up now while the teas are available. We expect to sell out quickly.
https:/checkout.teforia.com/collections/teas
All remaining Teforia Classic inventory is also available for purchase (at a deep discount) until Friday, November 3rd. Buy a second infuser for your home or office or buy one as a gift for friends or family. Inventory is limited, and we expect to sell out quickly.
https://checkout.teforia.com/collections/infusers/products/teforia-infuser
Teforia Classic, Teforia Leaf+ and the Teforia App will function as is with iOS 11 and Android Oreo. Please make sure you have the latest version of the Teforia App, iOS version 674 and Android version 255. The App is certified to work on iOS version 11 and Android Oreo.
For Teforia Leaf customers, we have pushed a new firmware update for your infuser that will change your Teforia Leaf to Teforia Leaf+, which will give you the capability to make your own tea from the Teforia App. To receive the Leaf+ firmware update, please make sure your infuser is connected to a WiFi network that has internet connectivity and leave the infuser powered overnight. Once your Leaf is updated to Leaf+, you will be able to control the infuser from the Teforia App. This is the last action we’ve taken to make sure ALL devices can make their own tea and function independently. For more information, please visit our help page, or contact us at help@teforia.com through November 3rd.
Again, we want to thank you for your support, business and trust. We still believe the world is a better place with tea and hope to find ways to support this vision beyond Teforia.
Best Regards,
Allen Han, Founder | CEO Teforia
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