Kickstarter asks Zano for clarification about failed multi-million dollar project

Kickstarter has asked Zano’s team to clarify how the multi-million dollar project could fail. Last week it was announced in a short message that the project for the intelligent minidrone is not feasible.

All backers of the Zano project have received an email from Kickstarter. The organization writes in it that it is extremely frustrated about the failure of the Zano project. Kickstarter says it received the bad news in the same way as the backers: “through a scant project update.” In the email, the company said it had already urged the project’s creators to communicate better two weeks ago, but that would have resulted in no more than a cursory response.

Kickstarter now informs backers that another email has been sent to Zano, pointing out the company’s responsibilities to the project. One of those duties is to communicate openly and transparently about what has happened to the project. If a project fails, the costs incurred must be accounted for and any money left over must be paid back to the backers. Kickstarter requires Zano’s team to issue a comprehensive statement by Monday, November 30. If that statement does not come, Kickstarter itself will initiate an investigation into the Zano project. What this exactly means is not yet clear, but Kickstarter writes that the findings will be shared with the donors.

Last week it was announced that the Kickstarter project Zano, which raised the equivalent of 3.35 million euros for the development of a small autonomous intelligent drone, has failed. This was announced in a brief status update, in which the board said that the project is no longer technically, commercially and financially feasible.

Kickstarter emphasizes in the email that project failure is possible and that with open communication, it can be an unfortunate but acceptable outcome. A failed project, without honesty and transparency, is considered unacceptable by the organization. Kickstarter currently seems to group the Zano project under this category. The project founders are therefore no longer allowed to start other projects on the crowdfunding website.