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Crowdfunding Smash: Handheld Power Scrubber Gets 3,000% Funded

By Rain Noe - August 18, 2020

in Crowdfunding

Here's another product hit I didn't see coming: Skadu, a gimmicky-looking handheld cordless power scrubber for cleaning tasks.

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If I saw this being demonstrated at a trade show, I'd have walked right past the booth without thinking twice. This is something I might buy if it was made by Bosch, Philips or a manufacturer with a track record of producing durable tools. But coming from a startup I'd never heard of called Hyper Lychee, I have no faith that this product would last, or that I'd be able to get replacement consumables or parts for it if something broke.

The design of the object is form-follows-function, but something about the transitions and details look rushed to me; it doesn't inspire confidence. To my eye it looks like a top-notch student mock-up.

Yet at press time Skadu had hit $147,396 in funding on a $5,000 target, meaning it's nearly 3,000% funded with another 16 days left to pledge. My guess is that folks locked down by the pandemic have done more than their share of home cleaning, and are looking for a novel, magical-seeming device that will remove the drudgery. Whether this device will stand the test of time remains to be seen.

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Hannan Hakim

4 years ago

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Thank you for taking notice of our work.

We've been building this product since 2017 and have surpassed existing products by bigger brands such as Black & Decker & Dremel on power, functionality and design.

It is obvious that Bosch and Philips might instil confidence from the get-go but even these companies started somewhere. We at Hyper Lychee are at the beginning of our long journey.

Our small and passionate team is working hard every day to deliver an impeccable robust product to happy and confident customers.

Do check out our campaign.

Best,
Hannan
Hyper Lychee

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- Andrew Roberson
  
  Hannan Hakim
  
  4 years ago
  
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  Yes! I love seeing the product company responding in the comments. Hannan Hakim, since Rain also posted criticism of your product's form and details, maybe you could give some more specific info about the design (design info is not too in depth on your kickstarter campaign and maybe head of design Nadine Hakim could give some more insight) For my first impressions, I also saw the design as not fully refined... and in regard to Philips, the form almost reminds me of a Norelco razor. Much respect for a passionate company successfully crowdfunding a successful product/tool!
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  - Hannan Hakim
    
    Andrew Roberson
    
    4 years ago
    
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    Thank you Andrew, We designed Skadu keeping a slightly senior audience in mind considering they are the ones who really face difficulty scrubbing clean, we worked towards milder colours and softer curves and decided to not push the surfacing too much for this reason.
    
    Design is also subjective, what Rain the author might not like could be greatly appreciated by someone else, for example, the committee at EPDA and our backers :)
    
    Thank you for checking out the campaign!
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Ross Oliver

4 years ago

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Apparently they are not aware of the Dremel Versa Power Scrubber:
https://shop.dremel.com/versa-power-scrubber-kit/
Although I'm not surprised, as Dremel has done a terrible job of marketing it, selling it in the tool corral alongside the Dremel rotary tools. They need to buy some shelf space in the kitchen and/or cleaning departments. And make it a more appealing color than grey.

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