Very very bad news today, torn between a small remnant of hope and a great resignation at the idea of having lost everything, sad… :
“However, if we do not succeed in securing new investments or partnerships in the coming weeks, we will be left with no other choice but to file for bankruptcy.”
1 Like
That would be very sad indeed. 
Where did you hear this?
1 Like
I saw post on Elektronauts, but the full post is available as a Kickstarter update
its not only hard to hear for the kickstarter project,
but also for Aodyo generally, as they’ve built some great stuff, let’s hope their dreams dont die and they can find a way through. 
4 Likes
Oh - fingers crossed!
2 Likes
Sad, a bit angry too about how it seems they handled this disaster, driving two projects at the same time while knowing their economy was very fragile. Though they did about 3 times what they aimed for in KS. And then no refund.
4 Likes
yeah, if they are lacking cashflow (most likely), then refunds would not be an option… it would drive into insolvency, and then it’d be down to administrator to decide which creditors get what.
(at least in UK, not show where they are based, and laws there)
tis odd, that both projects were overfunded multiple times.
but Ive noticed on a lot of KS projects the funding limit seems to be set a low level, not sure if this is optimism (of costs) or what.
and yeah… I agree running two projects in parallel (in hindsight !) seems very risky.
but perhaps Loom was created to help ease the cash flow of Omega to delivery… which once delivered, would have new sales to then fund Loom.
again… cashflow is usually the killer of small companies.
it appears to be the case here… a couple of projects they are having difficulty getting over the line, but if they did… then this would ease the whole situation and make the company viable.
which is what they will be ‘selling’ to banks and potential investors.
in that sense there is hope… they have viable products, but they need cash to get them over the line.
4 Likes
They saw it coming since several months. They should have communicated, they could have stopped some expenses or even a whole project. May be the sale price was totally unrealistic…many questions, but these are no signs of a great management to,me
3 Likes
Wow, a real shame. Hope they can recover, or offer some compensation to backers.
3 Likes
Backers received a license for Anyma V during both the Anyma Omega and Loo(o)m campaign already.
A forum mod may want to edit the title / contents of my OP about this to reflect that Aodyo Instruments seems to be headed toward insolvency and cannot (as of this writing) deliver this product to any backers. I don’t think I can edit the title to reflect that or I would, sorry all!
Sad to see they pulled the old “our ship is sinking but don’t send a distress signal because we’re too busy bailing out water” trick. I don’t get why failing companies tend to go radio silent and distance themselves from their early backers and goodwilling supporters? Shouldn’t that be the absolute last people you leave in the dark when the going gets rough?
2 Likes
Ive added a link in OP to status page on KS, since the KS page contains a link for preorders.
(in fairness, Im sure anyone preordering would check the current KS status before doing so, but no harm in a reminder )
1 Like
Just checked, they are not offering preorders on their web-page nor on Indigogo anymore.
1 Like
ah, good point…
I saw the preorder on KS, which takes you to their indigogo preorder page.
what I didn’t notice they’d restricted numbers of ‘perks’ there, so you cannot actually select one now.
good to see.
1 Like
Sad news, I was looking forward to this one 
1 Like
If the info brought up from backers here is true then Aoydo filed for insolvency on the 24th of June already - about two months after the end of the Kickstarter and a week after the “Almost ready for production” update. Then, according to this, they waited more than two months (apparently the time after insolvency declaration where people could still bring up claims) before informing the backers.
If this is true then I am honestly deeply disapponted in the team and their handling of the situation! This sounds like the Loom Kickstarter was mainly an attempt to fill a big financial hole with new money without informing the backers about the situation and the associated risk up front? Hoping for further clarification.
3 Likes
Even without that latest info on formal insolvency procedures and timing, I had already concluded that the timing of the Loom campaign and their subsequent messages about it were a complete disgrace, given how little time passed between that campaign and their admission of when they started focussing their efforts on finding investors or buyers. With the benefit of hindsight, the vague explanation they gave in their July 23rd update about reasons for Loom production delays were a red flag.
There appear to be a few differences in the French system compared to systems elsewhere that I am a bit more familiar with. But there are also some similarities. It doesnt sound like an administrator had to be appointed for that first phase unless turnover or employee numbers were over a certain amount. And I would not describe the initial period as being identical to insolvency.
I have been relying on computer translation of pages such as the following to clue me in about the basics of the system used: Procédure de sauvegarde d'une société | Entreprendre.Service-Public.fr
In any case, while these differences may be of interest when judging what the previous status in recent months was, it certainly does sound like the conclusion was that company was formally liquidated last Tuesday.
2 Likes
Having now translated a page on liquidation, I probably should not have described the liquidation as if it was a single event on a single date, as the very end point, as opposed to the start of a new final phase. In any case this new phase is still about the company receiving any money it is owed, termination of employees, normal company management no longer being in control, attempts to sell remaining stock or any parts of the business deemed to be worth anything.
And this current state of liquidation ends with either creditors all getting paid what they are owed (not normally achieved) or when the company in liquidation has nothing left to sell that can raise any more money to pay creditors, in which case the entity is finally dissolved and no remaining creditor can pursue the company any further because it no longer exists.
This phase sounds like it has much in common with a UK company that falls into administration under circumstances where it is then determined that no prospect for it to stagger on as a going concern remains. As opposed to the previous phase where a greater variety of exit routes still remained possible, and where the French system had more differences than the typical UK one.
1 Like
The late July release timing of their software version also sucked very badly and was not conducted in good faith now that we can fit it into the grand scheme of things.
However this is also an indication that the status they initiated a month before then, on 24th of June shouldnt really be described or thought of as insolvency exactly. It was a phase of protection for a distressed company, but it did not involve the sort of formal requirement to cease activities that the insolvency phase they have now entered does.
1 Like
Not that my characterisation of what they are allowed to do even in this new liquidation phase is likely completely accurate either, given that they are probably still selling software licenses via their website right now.
It does rather wind me up when companies in some countries arent forced to, at a minimum, put a banner on their websites as soon as they enter administration or liquidation. When I worked for a company that went into administration in the UK over a decade ago, that was one of the first things the administrator made us do, and we didnt even have an online store. But maybe its not even a requirement in the UK, if it is then the likes of Modal Electronics never bothered doing that.
2 Likes
In regards that last point, I suppose its plausible in this case that the court has authorised continuation of activity so that goods may continue to be sold with a view to getting more money to pay creditors. That does seem to be allowed for under the French system. They can also authorise this if there remains some prospect that the company (or part of it) could yet be sold to another entity.
2 Likes