INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Founded in 2012, Nomiku became a plucky Silicon Valley darling by bringing affordable sous vide cooking to home kitchens
A Kickstarter project that same year generated $750,000, several times its $200,000 goal
The company scored a glowing TechCrunch profile the following year, as well, thanks in part to a great backstory
Today, however, the company noted on its site and various social media channels that it is winding down operations:
Well, I am sorry to
say that we have reached the end of the road
It is with a heavy heart (and deep-felt gratitude for your patronage) that we are writing to let you know that we are discontinuing the
Nomiku Smart Cooker and Nomiku Meals effective immediately, and suspending operations
While we still believe in the concept, we simply were not able to get to a place of sustainability to keep the business going
Thank you very much for your support, it has meant a lot to myself and everyone here at Nomiku.
&The total climate for food tech is
different than it used to be,& Lisa Fetterman said in a call to TechCrunch
&There was a time when food tech and hardware were much more hot and viable
I think a company can survive a few hurdles, and a few challenges [ …] For me, it was the perfect storm of all these things.&
In total,
the company raised more than $1.3 million over two Kickstarter campaigns, putting it in the upper echelons of food crowdfunding
In 2015, the startup joined Y Combinator and launched a cooking app called Tender, featuring recipes from prominent chefs
In some ways, Nomiku appears to be a victim of its own popularity
The company was able to bring a cost-prohibitive cooking technology down to an affordable price point, only to see the market flooded by
Fetterman highlighted some of those issues in a recent Extra Crunch interview
In 2017, Samsung Ventures invested in the company, with plans to integrate it into its SmartThings connected platform
That same year, Nomiku began to pivot into subscription meal plans, but had difficulty getting the word out
Fetterman says the company was seeking funding toward the end, but ultimately couldn&t make things work
Even with a buzzy company and a great product, the startup world can still be unforgiving.
