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

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

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.