Wed Sep 28 '22 Announcement
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Sep 28, 2022 at 12:36:36 PM

Dear Backers,

With a heavy heart we have to announce that, after six challenging years of developing the Lumapod, founding the company, and conducting a successful crowdfunding campaign, we have reached a point where we have to end the project and close down the company.

As you know from our previous updates, various delays and issues in the production process consumed a lot of cash to a degree that the proceeds from crowdfunding were no longer sufficient to successfully complete the project. For over a year we have been trying to attract additional investors who also believe in Lumapod to help us bring it to market. We were partially successful and believed we were about to achieve our objective, but ultimately we weren’t able to secure full funding for production. It's already hard enough to find investors for a hardware product. In addition, the global situation is unsettling investors and distributors, which has made it even more difficult.

Unfortunately, we now have to admit that we failed with our project. As both the company and the team personally lack the necessary funds to continue the project, we had to file for bankruptcy for Lumapod GmbH.

It is a difficult step for us and quite frankly, it breaks our hearts. For years we have been giving our best to drive product development, solve problems, and attract full funding. Despite the product being almost ready for mass production, we are now forced to give up and close down the company and our dreams along with it.

We will now face the bankruptcy proceeding and must ensure that we have done everything by the book, adhering to the legally prescribed process.

What was the crowdfunding money used for?

The most significant part of the funding was invested in manufacturing tools and molds (~250k), which are complex and expensive to produce. Additional funding (~400k) went towards crowdfunding platform fees (8%), prototypes, pre-serial productions, material, travel expenses to China, legal fees (IP), partners and consultants, office, bank, insurances, and taxes.

Mold costs were not much higher than expected. When we launched the campaign, our initial goal was set to see if there is enough interest to proceed with the project. We did not set a higher target because we had outside funds lined up at the time. We would have made sure we had the full funding before proceeding.

The financial concept and the business plan calculations were created in cooperation with a professional management consultant.

The future of Lumapod

The future of Lumapod will happen without us. But we are in contact with several people who consider taking over the project. We do not know yet which form this may take and whether you, our backers, will be extended an offer for receiving a Lumapod. As soon as there is clarity, we will announce that in another update.

Thank you

We've always strived to be honest and transparent with the progress we've made and the problems we've encountered. We will continue to share as much information as possible as the evolution of Lumapod becomes more clear. Thank you so much for your continued support over such a long period of time - till today and beyond!

This will not be our last update. We will announce the progress here for any meaningful developments.

- The Lumapod Team

Thu Sep 22 '22 Announcement
almost 2 years ago – Thu, Sep 22, 2022 at 08:45:00 AM

Dear Backers,

we apologize for making you wait so long for an update.

The reason is, everything got very uncertain. Everything we tell might be wrong a week later. And there are some discussions which are confidential for the puplic until anything is binding.

Unfortunately, we have troubles getting the full amount of investor funding. We are working on the question “What happens, if we don’t get the funding”.

And there is no answer yet. We have talks to several people and companies. We will soon let you know the outcome.

Because it now gets assumed more often, we would like to mention that Lumapod is not a scam! For years we worked hard for this project and invested a lot. We are a legal company in Austria and no matter what, there is a strict law that verifies our actions.

We apologize again and will update you soon.

- The Lumapod Team

Thu Jun 30 '22 Announcement
about 2 years ago – Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 11:21:48 AM

Dear Backers, 

as the financing process did not progress much since the previous month, this is another rather short update. We hope for your understanding. 

We get many bad comments and we cannot be mad about it, as we understand the reason. We can just keep our fingers crossed, we can come up with positive news soon. 

Company Funding 

In the last update we mentioned that some backers left us messages, they would be willing to invest more. After posting this update, some additional backers let us know they would invest more as well. Here a quick summary of our thoughts to this:

First, this additional funding from your side would only make sense if we can make 100% sure, we can fulfill right away after taking more money. This means we have to have the currently targeted investment secured first, as this can realistically only work in combination. Also, to make it fair, we have to offer an additional product for an additional investment.

All in all we see it rather unlikely at the moment, that it will be reasonable to take this road.       

Investor talks are progressing slowly. Things aren't really going in favor of startups like ours, e.g. traveling to China is hardly possible, the logistics are rather unpredictable and therefore distributors are somehow reserved. As a result, investors are generally more critical at the moment, even if they love a product. We are on it, but it's really a tough time for us.  

FAQs

How can I change my address?

You can change your address directly in your backerkit account. Log in here: https://www.backerkit.com/backer_accounts/sign_in

If you didn’t sign up for Backerkit, you might also click on “Just looking for your survey? Find it here” (Note: You will find 2 campaigns when searching for “Lumapod”. One for Kickstarter and one for Indiegogo.)

Alternatively, just drop us a message and we will send a direct access link.

Thank you guys! We love you! Stay healthy!

   - The Lumapod Team

Wed Jun 1 '22 Announcement
about 2 years ago – Wed, Jun 01, 2022 at 11:15:43 AM

Dear Backers, 

again, like in the previous months, we have not much news to share with you. We are still working on the funding and did not reach the goal yet.

Company Funding 

Some backers on Indiegogo said they would spend additional money if it helps fulfill the project. They asked us to do a survey to find out how many of our backers would be open to further support us. We honor and appreciate the initiative of these backers, but we feel that the total amount we can reach this way would not help us out much. Plus we fear a quite negative reaction of some of our backers. Please leave us a comment if you have a different opinion on this.  

The investor talks are still ongoing, but no tangible change compared to the previous month. We will meet two interested investors this week. Let's hope for a positive outcome.  

Product

This month we were updating the production prices. As assumed, the production costs did rise, but not too much. Roughly 5%. Only the shipping costs are still on an astronomic level. Let's hope that they are not kept on this level. 

Timeline

As mentioned in the last updates, as long as we do not have the full amount of the required funding committed it is not possible to share a timeline with you. We hope for your understanding. Hopefully we can share more concrete information on this in the next monthly update.

FAQs

How can I change my address?

You can change your address directly in your backerkit account. Log in here: https://www.backerkit.com/backer_accounts/sign_in

If you didn’t sign up for Backerkit, you might also click on “Just looking for your survey? Find it here” (Note: You will find 2 campaigns when searching for “Lumapod”. One for Kickstarter and one for Indiegogo.)

Alternatively, just drop us a message and we will send a direct access link.

Thank you guys! We love you! Stay healthy!

   - The Lumapod Team

Mon May 2 '22 Announcement
about 2 years ago – Mon, May 02, 2022 at 08:58:33 AM

Dear Backers, 

again an update with not much information. Investment round improved, but not finished yet. 

Company Funding 

One of our backers asked us to share the information in our monthly update once again, how it came to the point that we have a delay due to a funding gap. We did so some months ago, but he is right. Here a short summary to give you a hint how the whole thing feels like today:

Financing Lumapod has been a topic throughout the whole project. We were constantly verifying and updating our financial plan. When we knew we needed more funding, we were successfully filling these gaps. First we got a government secured loan as a support for delays we had due to Covid. Then we got a commitment from an investor. But since the second pre-production took additional time, he found another opportunity to invest. So we had to start the investment round all over again. We talked to countless interested investors, attended various investor events and we were optimistic. We got great feedback from both customers and interested investors. But same as the global situation, also the money isn’t as optimistic as it used to be two, three years ago. Now that this ongoing fund raising process is affecting the timeline, we feel additional pressure, with every day that passes by. Not only that many backers understandably have become impatient, and that we have not earned a cent ourselves for almost a year. Also the tax consultant, landlord of our office, software licenses, … send invoices every month. Let us keep our fingers crossed, we can solve this soon. Tension on our side is high!

Timeline

As mentioned in the last updates, as long as we do not have the full amount of the required funding committed it is not possible to share a timeline with you. We hope for your understanding. Hopefully we can share more concrete information on this in the next monthly update.

FAQs

How can I change my address?

You can change your address directly in your backerkit account. Log in here: https://www.backerkit.com/backer_accounts/sign_in

If you didn’t sign up for Backerkit, you might also click on “Just looking for your survey? Find it here” (Note: You will find 2 campaigns when searching for “Lumapod”. One for Kickstarter and one for Indiegogo.)

Alternatively, just drop us a message and we will send a direct access link.

Thank you guys! We love you! Stay healthy!

   - The Lumapod Team