Buzz
Crowdfunding has become one of the internet's most remarkable success stories. Various platforms provide creators the opportunity to present their ideas to the world, allowing supporters to fund those projects and bring them to life. This has enabled individuals without traditional access to financing to realize their dreams.
However, not all dreams are feasible. It's possible to produce an impressive promotional video for a product, but actually creating the product can prove far more challenging. Here are 10 projects that sought crowdfunding, but perhaps they should have remained just ideas.
10. Triton
The Triton underwater breathing device made a splash on the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform, raising close to $900,000. Unlike traditional underwater breathing equipment that relies on cumbersome gas tanks, the Triton promised a more streamlined solution in the form of a simple face mask.
The two small arms of the Triton were advertised as capable of extracting oxygen from water, mimicking the function of a fish’s gills. It promised to allow users to dive up to 5 meters (15 feet) and provide oxygen for up to 45 minutes. It's no wonder that people were excited.
However, issues soon surfaced. Many found the claims about the device to be highly questionable. The oxygen content in water is quite low, and extracting enough for a human to breathe would require the Triton to pump around 2 liters (0.5 gallons) of water per second, assuming it could extract all the oxygen available.
Pumping such a large volume of water would demand significant power. However, the Triton touted a revolutionary microbattery that was 30 times smaller than its competitors and could charge 1,000 times faster. You might think such a breakthrough battery would be enough to change the world, but it has yet to materialize.
In early 2016, Triton refunded the money of its backers. But shortly after, they relaunched the project and raised nearly $300,000 in new funds, promising to deliver the Triton by the end of the year. As of March 2018, however, the Triton has yet to make its debut on the market.
9. Solar Roadways
Solar roadways are set to revolutionize the world, or so the inventor believes. By replacing traditional asphalt with solar panels, the roads would generate energy, create jobs, melt snow, enhance safety, and simplify repairs. Since launching their campaign on Indiegogo, Solar Roadways has raised over $2.2 million. Who wouldn’t want a world where roads generate clean energy?
While it’s a vision many may dream of, the reality is far off. The main issue lies in how solar panels collect energy. To maximize their output, panels typically use tilted surfaces, but flat roads are far from ideal for solar energy collection. Additionally, even a thin layer of dust or dirt can drastically reduce a solar panel’s efficiency, and roads are hardly the cleanest environments.
The first installation of solar roadways encountered several issues, including broken panels when placed in pedestrian areas. Despite the setbacks, the project has garnered multiple awards for its innovative design and funding.
8. The Dragonfly Futurefon
The Dragonfly Futurefon was designed to be a single device for all your computing needs. Featuring a unique foldable design, it could function as a laptop, phone, and tablet all at once. Boasting versatility and style, it raised over $700,000 in funding.
The creator of the Dragonfly had been promoting a device featuring two screens for several years. When the Dragonfly was launched on Indiegogo, people quickly pointed out flaws in its design. The very complexity that made it stand out, along with its advanced specs, made it clear that production costs would be high.
Unfortunately, the product that was supposed to be the ultimate device turned into a complete failure. Investors received nothing in return for their money. The Indiegogo campaign hasn't been updated since 2016, and it appears that the website is now involving collection agencies against the creators of the Dragonfly.
7. Zano
Zano was a compact drone that promised to revolutionize how people captured photos and videos. By offering users the ability to control it via their smartphones, the creators managed to raise over £2.2 million on Kickstarter. The tremendous interest in the drone skyrocketed expectations, only for them to come crashing down. The failure was so dramatic that Kickstarter hired an investigative journalist to uncover the reasons behind Zano's downfall.
With 12,000 backers waiting for their product, the Zano team used the funds to hire more staff and boost production capacity. However, changes needed for the Zano caused delays, and the company struggled to deliver on one of its key features—tracking and following the user.
The drone could only remain airborne for a few minutes at a time. To secure additional funding, a small batch of Zano drones was shipped. One user described the experience as 'a continual nightmare of mega-underperformance.'
Zano ultimately went into liquidation, and its creators were banned by Kickstarter from ever launching a new project again.
6. Logbar Ring
Controlling devices with mere hand gestures seems like something from a fairy tale. When Logbar announced a ring that could control lights, TVs, and other gadgets, they raised $880,000 in backing.
Despite the product’s exciting potential, many were quick to doubt the company’s claims. Gizmodo published an article pointing out the difficulty of shrinking the necessary technology into a ring, along with the limitations of wearing it. Any time you encountered water (such as washing your hands), the ring would need to be removed. Nevertheless, expectations remained high.
When backers received their rings, they found several issues. One particularly scathing review has garnered over two million views on YouTube. The ring was criticized for being too bulky. To use it, the ring had to be connected to your phone, and the app had to remain open. Additionally, the gestures detected by the ring were only recognized around 5 percent of the time.
5. Coolest Cooler
How much would you pay for a cooler that can be taken on a picnic? When the Coolest Cooler launched on Kickstarter, it raised an impressive $13 million. This made it one of the most successful crowdfunding projects in history. The Coolest promised to offer not just a cooler, but also a blender for crushing ice, a water-resistant speaker, LED lights, a bottle opener, and many other features.
The campaign’s FAQ initially listed February 2015 as the expected delivery date. However, this was pushed back to July when the first units were finally shipped. Two years later, though, only about a third of the backers had received their coolers, and 36,000 backers were still waiting, growing increasingly frustrated.
The Coolest Cooler is now available in stores. The owner claims that the proceeds from these sales are being used to fund the production of units to fulfill orders for the original backers.
4. WaterSeer
Providing clean, drinkable water remains a significant challenge in many regions around the globe. When WaterSeer claimed it could easily extract water from the air, online backers were eager to support the idea, contributing over $330,000 in funding.
The WaterSeer was designed to work by condensing water vapor from the air. Think of how droplets form on a cold beverage on a hot day—this is the principle the WaterSeer was meant to operate on. When warm air comes in contact with a cool surface, the water vapor in the air turns into liquid form.
However, there seem to be some issues with the physics behind the concept. The creators claimed that one unit could collect up to 40 liters (11 gallons) of water from the air. But in hot, dry climates, the amount of water vapor in the air is scarce. As a result, the device would need to push large volumes of air through an underground chamber, which reduces the time available to cool the air and extract the water.
Additionally, the underground portion of the device must be colder than the surrounding air, a condition that only occurs for about half the day in most locations. While thermodynamics can’t be bypassed, there may still be opportunities to enhance the WaterSeer’s efficiency.
3. UC3 Nautilus
The UC3 Nautilus was a 17.8-meter (58 ft) submarine constructed by a group of Danish rocket enthusiasts known as Copenhagen Suborbitals. When the submarine required costly repairs, they turned to Indiegogo for funding. Although they failed to meet their fundraising goal, the submarine was eventually relaunched.
Ownership of the Nautilus was later transferred to a different group to separate it from Copenhagen Suborbitals. Eventually, it came under the possession of Peter Madsen, who had originally built the Nautilus. In late 2017, reports surfaced that the Nautilus had sunk, with Madsen being rescued from the water and citing a malfunction in the ballast tank as the cause.
What was initially unknown was that Kim Wall, a journalist, had been aboard the submarine. Madsen initially claimed that he had dropped Wall off before the submarine sank. Later, he stated that she had suffered an accident on board and he had disposed of her body at sea. Two weeks later, Wall’s dismembered body was found, bearing stab wounds. Madsen has been charged with murder and is awaiting trial.
2. Laser Razor
The Skarp Laser Razor promised to eliminate the discomfort of shaving by using lasers to cut through hairs, leaving the skin untouched and free of the irritation typically caused by traditional razors.
The company’s first crowdfunding effort raised $4 million on Kickstarter, but the campaign was pulled after the prototype failed to work. Undeterred, the creators shifted to Indiegogo, where they raised an additional $500,000.
The razor functioned by directing laser light through a fiber. When a hair came into contact with the fiber, the light would leak out and slice through the hair. Public demonstrations of the product, however, have shown it struggles to effectively cut hair, managing only a few strands at a time and not very close to the skin.
The original shipping estimate of December 2016 came and went without any razors being delivered to backers. Despite continued updates to their Indiegogo page, a new release date has yet to be provided.
1. Air Umbrella
Rain can be a real bother. While an umbrella offers a straightforward way to stay dry, what if it could use air jets to push the rain away from you instead? The Air Umbrella raised $102,000 for its 'invisible umbrella' concept. It seemed like an ingenious and straightforward idea, so backers likely had high expectations for its release.
However, some people had their doubts about the product. The technical information provided was scarce, and the umbrella’s battery life was limited to just 15 or 30 minutes depending on the model. There was also the issue of potentially soaking people nearby with both water and air as you walked down the street, which likely wouldn’t make you the most popular person in a crowd.
The air umbrella was never delivered. Even though the creators promised refunds, comments still appear on Kickstarter from backers hoping to get their money back.
