Why wearable tech startup Beacon & Lively shut down its Kickstarter

Two days before its Kickstarter campaign was slated to end, Beacon & Lively canceled it.

At the time, the wearable tech startup had raised $24,701. It had hoped to garner $120,000 and create a loyal following.

But Kickstarter wasn’t the right way to engage customers, CEO Dave Becker wrote to us in an email. (Beacon & Lively’s target customer is between 30 to 50, he said.)

He wrote:

People have heard of Kickstarter, but they really don’t know what it is/means. They don’t understand the concept of being a backer, making a pledge and following the campaign. Our customers just want a “Pre-order” button…which is what [competitor] Ringly did (more successfully than us).

In a blog post explaining why he shut down the Kickstarter, he also pointed to a “prestigious PR firm out of NYC” that failed to deliver.

The company is unfazed, though, Becker said. It has applied to the New York City-based R/GA Accelerator (which came to Philadelphia this summer to hear pitches), has a new prototype out and has been meeting with angel investors and venture firms.