Loom from Aodyo - Now Bankrupt

The Lounge Other Gear
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If you ordered something directly from them through a separate merchant account that would be possible?

Kickstarter’s TOS and various agreements and notifications/warnings try to redirect responsibility to the “supporter” or whatever with no guarantees. To this, I don’t know how every bank considers these reversal requests but one should note that banks will always float you immediately but I’d wait 3 or so months for that claim to be a little more solidly in your account. It will be removed if the bank finds the transaction valid.

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Happily, I’m not in a position to sweat the $300 either way, so it’s all gravy to me. There are much harder lessons to be learned with Kickstarter, I imagine, so I’ll consider that I’ve learned mine cheaply. I did see something a while back in the $2000 range, but it was a first-timer, so there was zero possibility. A few months ago, it went up for sale on their web site, so that level of commitment made me go for it. Mine arrives about four weeks after the KS early backers, so it turns out there wasn’t much benefit to those who took the risk.

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Pretty much this, but with a twist in my case, which came to an end today.

Some months after the initial good faith crediting to my account, the bank posted a debit to my account for the same amount but with an odd banking technical designation. After a few rounds of inquiry to get to the bottom of it, they reported that MasterCard had denied the claim because it was past the 90-day period. That implies MasterCard guarantees the consumer against vendor bankruptcy for 3 months, but who knows for sure. At the time my bank determined this, they permanently credited me back the funds on their own. Who knows why: it’s a credit union, so you get better service, and since it’s a first time occurrence for a relatively low amount, maybe their policy is to just eat it themselves. I wonder if Wells Fargo has a similar policy.

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Thanks for the followup! Glad that worked out for ya. S’pose it’s always good to try with the expectation that one’s bank might not be as accommodating :slight_smile:

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Just saw that a new firm called “Aodyo” was immatriculated as a musical instrument producer in the same place (Lille), with a new person at the helm (Mickaël Coronado) on 25 April (see official notice below). Does anyone know more about this?

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Does it really matter so long as the original company is bankrupt/insolvent?

We were not investors in the original.

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Interesting… shame it won’t make any difference to all the backers who lost all their money…

New company, probably bought the IP from the original for €1 and they’ll rise like a phoenix and start selling the products that we backed with little regard for the people who actually funded the development…

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Very very very wishful thinking: if they are the exact same people, with the same company name, they might make a gesture for all the people who paid for their rents/wages for the 2-3 year time they spent developing the Omega/Loom - which will very likely be put to use for a new product.

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Probably this guy :

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Inodesign-Group is in Croix France just north east of Lille. It is an R&D company, specializing in electronic research and development, electronics manufacturing, and cable manufacturing. The company was founded in 2012.

Speculation : since Aodyo was doing manufacture in France, it is possible that they were working with Inodesign. ( Recall when Modal went through its financial problems their manufacture picked them up, and revived them. This is not uncommon. ) They could have been a creditor too. And it’s not completely impossible, though a long shot, they could have been an investor.

This may likely be the Mickaël Coronado named as Dirigeant, but maybe not.

I will speculate some more, but will try to keep it real at the same time.

Inodesign no doubt has pockets, and understands the design manufacture side of this, though probably not the electronic music business side.

That they decide to keep the name Aodyo at least for the time being is interesting. There is tarnish to the name but also value especially if a restart is managed well. There is considerable value with the existing products, Sylphyo, Anyma Phi, and AnymaV, all being existing products known with the brand. The Loom has got to be close to done, and wouldn’t be unreasonable for it to be finished and sold as well.

The Omegas are another matter, but still of considerable value. They can no doubt consider making it a product in some form, but they also may just choose to concentrate on the four existing products above. There is value there but also risk.

What is done for existing crowdfund investors, is part of the “managed well” i just mentioned. The crowdfund investors are already established and also likely future customers. Obviously anyone trying to restart an Aodyo knows they need to get this right somehow. Good will does count in business – believe it or not. ( We know how many cynics are here in this forum as well. )

They could also decide to change the brand name. A plus and a minus on that option.

Excellent catch on this ccr ! Thank you.

Disclosure : I was a crowdfund investor for the Omega Keys. ADDED : And a regular user of the Anyma Phi.

Edit : Fixed typo.

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ADDED : “Managed badly” would be for them to ever consider doing a crowdfund again.

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