Thursday, September 26, 2024
Aodyo Anyma Omega & Loom Kickstarters On Hold After Receiving 273% & 321% of Funding Respectively
It looks like Aodyo's Anyma Omega & Loom are on hold, and unfortunately it appears backers may be out their funds as their money went towards pre-production.
Key points from the full Kicstarter message further below:
1. "Given that the funds have been used entirely to advance these projects, we regret to inform you that a refund of your contributions is unfortunately impossible at this stage."
2. "However, if we do not succeed in securing new investments or partnerships in the coming weeks, we will be left with no other choice but to file for bankruptcy."
3. "In closing
We know this is not the message you were hoping for, and we share your frustration. We want to express our deepest gratitude for your support and belief in our vision, and we remain hopeful that a solution can be found."
The full message follows:
"Dear contributors,
We apologize for the delay in getting back to you and thank you for your sustained patience. During this time, we have been doing everything we can to avoid the situation we now find ourselves in. In the spirit of transparency and honesty, we want to share the challenges we are facing and provide a clear picture of where we stand.
Current Situation
Over the past months, we’ve encountered significant difficulties with both the Loom and Omega projects, which have severely impacted our financial situation.
Loom: The production costs and delays we encountered have turned out to be much higher than we initially anticipated. Due to extended lead times for the electronic components from our manufacturer, we have been unable to launch production.
Omega: The system's complexity has far exceeded what we originally planned. The powerful nature of this synthesizer required multithreading due to the characteristics of the processors available on the market. We also faced setbacks from architectural changes necessitated by component shortages. These combined factors have led to much longer delays than expected.
We had hoped to raise additional funds by leveraging the campaign’s momentum, but unfortunately, this effort has not been successful. As a result, we are now in a difficult financial position and have been unable to secure the working capital necessary to move forward.
What We’ve Been Doing
Over the last few months, we have focused our efforts on finding potential investors or buyers to help us unlock the situation. Unfortunately, we have not been successful so far. That said, we are still in discussions with a couple of potential partners, and we hope this message might spark new opportunities.
In the meantime, we’ve been continuing our operations by selling off our existing stock of Sylphyo and Anyma Phi, which is why we launched the summer promotions. These products have been in the market for some time, and the revenue from selling our stock has allowed us to keep going for a little longer.
Additionally, the work on the Anyma V allowed us to make progress on the polyphonic synthesis part of the Omega project and MPE support. It has also brought in some additional revenue to keep on working. And it allowed us to deliver an intermediate milestone to you as well.
Use of Crowdfunding Funds
We understand that many of you are wondering how the funds from the Loom and Omega campaigns were used. Here is a brief overview:
Loom Campaign:
Platform, currency and bank transfer fees (9%).
Marketing performance-based fees (13%).
Purchase of components to secure stock (14%).
Industrial design of the circuit boards (22%).
Industrial design of the mechanical parts (4%).
Final prototyping (14%).
Development of the embedded firmware (25%).
Omega Campaign:
Platform, currency and bank transfer fees (10%).
Marketing performance-based fees (11%).
Purchase of components to secure stock (9%).
Changes to the circuit boards due to component shortages (display, touch and DSP processors) (10%).
Industrial design of the new circuit boards (37%).
Industrial design of the mechanical parts (8%).
Development of the embedded firmware (22%).
Given that the funds have been used entirely to advance these projects, we regret to inform you that a refund of your contributions is unfortunately impossible at this stage.
What’s Next
Our sales of remaining stock should allow us to continue our operations. During this time, we will continue doing everything we can to secure an investor and unblock the situation. If we can manage to start the first batch of Loom, this would allow us to deliver to stores right after fulfilling your pledges, stabilizing our situation and enabling us to finish the Omega development.
However, if we do not succeed in securing new investments or partnerships in the coming weeks, we will be left with no other choice but to file for bankruptcy.
In closing
We know this is not the message you were hoping for, and we share your frustration. We want to express our deepest gratitude for your support and belief in our vision, and we remain hopeful that a solution can be found.
Thank you again for your understanding and support during this difficult time.
Sincerely,
The Aodyo Team"
You can find the message on Kickstarter here.
---
Note, I created a new Kickstarter Fails label below. I will add the label to older posts as I have time. If you know of any other synth related Kickstarter fails feel free to leave a comment.
7 comments:
Note: comments that insult people will be removed. Critique on gear is allowed. Do not ask if listings are still available. Click through auction links to check yourself. Posts and pics remain for historical purposes. To reduce spam, comments for posts older than one week are not displayed until approved (usually same day).
PREVIOUS PAGE
NEXT PAGE
HOME
© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Yep,...never ever send money via kickstarter,never!,just wait until the product is in the shop. Lesson learnt?
ReplyDeleteI’d like to see the statistics on how often Kickstarter campaigns end up stiffing their supporters. It’s kind of outrageous that a company can go into this very obviously undercapitalized and just go ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ “I guess we’ll declare bankruptcy…” The legal fine print protects them (and Kickstarter, for that matter) from any Class Action suits, so they can get away with it.
DeleteIndeed, in the case of Aodyo, I find that we are at the crossroads of breach of trust, incompetence and dishonesty. They should be held responsible for fraud.
DeleteKickstarter is no different than any other capital investment. Bet on an innovation and be prepared for the best or the worst. There are no guarantees. If you can't afford to lose the money, don't let it go.
ReplyDeleteExcept that it isn’t an “investment” in any proper sense of the word. It’s an order for a product that may or may not be delivered. I agree that you should never put money down that you can’t afford to lose, but with an “investment,” any money lost can be written off on taxes. With Kickstarter, if the product never ships, you’re just straight up SOL.
DeleteThe restrictions on investment loss deductions are convoluted, time consuming, and are no guarantee you will get more than a fraction of your investment back. Yo' pays yo' way an' yo' takes yo' choice, as the man says.
DeleteIf you don't get any product, you could probably fare better declaring it a charitable contribution.
ReplyDelete