Photo: Kickstarter
Crowdfunding must be one of the greatest business solutions for start-ups the world has seen, but it has its hiccups. Naturally, the fact that pledgers have to assume a risk when they decide to back a new project is the biggest setback, but rarely does it happen for the new company to dissolve right before it was supposed to deliver.
Autonomous, Intelligent, Developable - was Zano’s motto. Designed by British Torquing Group Ltd., the so-called nano drone was so small it could fit in the user's palm. It was supposed to be a great ultra-portable, personal aerial photography and HD video capture platform, a quadcopter that was intelligent enough to fly all by itself.
The British company’s product and marketing campaign were good enough to convince a lot of people to invest their money in the project. In fact, it started off with a £125,000 goal and reached an impressive £2,335,119 in funding. Despite the resources, the start-up announced its backers yesterday that they would not make it to the finish line.
“Having explored all options known to us, and after seeking professional advice, we have made the difficult decision to pursue a creditors' voluntary liquidation. We are greatly disappointed with the outcome of the Zano project, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us during this difficult period, especially our loyal employees, whose commitment has exceeded all expectations.”
According to the BBC, this message was sent to all the backers yesterday, officially announcing the end of the project. Even though nobody thought it would reach this outcome, the project was known to be in trouble for some time now. Torquing chief executive Ivan Reedman resigned last week due to “personal health issues and irreconcilable differences,” according to a comment he left on a Zano forum.
As a matter of fact, bad news had started even earlier than that, back in June, when the start-up missed a deadline to distribute the drones to its backers waiting to receive the product.
The British company’s product and marketing campaign were good enough to convince a lot of people to invest their money in the project. In fact, it started off with a £125,000 goal and reached an impressive £2,335,119 in funding. Despite the resources, the start-up announced its backers yesterday that they would not make it to the finish line.
“Having explored all options known to us, and after seeking professional advice, we have made the difficult decision to pursue a creditors' voluntary liquidation. We are greatly disappointed with the outcome of the Zano project, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us during this difficult period, especially our loyal employees, whose commitment has exceeded all expectations.”
According to the BBC, this message was sent to all the backers yesterday, officially announcing the end of the project. Even though nobody thought it would reach this outcome, the project was known to be in trouble for some time now. Torquing chief executive Ivan Reedman resigned last week due to “personal health issues and irreconcilable differences,” according to a comment he left on a Zano forum.
As a matter of fact, bad news had started even earlier than that, back in June, when the start-up missed a deadline to distribute the drones to its backers waiting to receive the product.
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