Coolest Cooler calls it quits, admits thousands of backers will never get their coolers [View all]

[TexasTowelie]

Crowdfunding fiasco Coolest Cooler notified thousands of backers Friday night that it will never deliver the coolers it promised. The Portland company offered $20 in lieu of the $200 Kickstarter backers paid to launch the project five years ago.

After years of missteps, manufacturing problems and unfulfilled promises, Coolest Cooler said the trade war with China ultimately made its future untenable. The company, which raised $13 million through Kickstarter, is now the crowdfunding platform’s biggest failure.

“Today, I’m sad to report (the trade war) has proved to be an insurmountable challenge for Coolest and we are forced to close down operations,” Coolest Cooler founder Ryan Grepper wrote in an email to backers. He indicated tariffs on imported goods raised the company’s costs beyond the breaking point.

Coolest Cooler was a sensation in 2014, pitching a novelty ice chest tricked out with a blender, Bluetooth speaker and other amenities. It became a national sensation, featured on “Good Morning America,” countless news articles, and hyped by Kickstarter itself in crowdfunding’s heyday.

Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2019/12/coolest-cooler-calls-it-quits-admits-thousands-of-backers-will-never-get-their-coolers.html