Kickstarter update #11 — Pre-production videos, manufacturing partners & progress updates

Jul 26, 2024

Update: #11

Author: GLORB Team (SNRGY Studios AB)

Date: 2024-07-26

What’s in this update

❤️ Team introduction (part 1): our manufacturing partners
🏭 Video updates from the factory
🔄 General progress updates
📝 BackerKit update — 88% complete

Dear GLORBATEERS!

Apologies for the recent delay in updates. It’s been a busy period with many deadlines converging, especially with Alex’s stay at the factory. We’ve made significant progress on all fronts, particularly in hardware. We’re still ironing out a few kinks, but GLORB has never looked better — and it’s only going to get more stunning.

❤️ 1) Team introduction (part 1) — our manufacturing partners

We feel it is way too rare for companies to give credit and love to the manufacturers of great products — so we want to shine a light on our manufacturing partners. Despite GLORB’s complexity, they tackled the job with huge optimism and serious dedication.

Meet Sophia (Project Manager) and Wesley (Founder) from HW Manufacturing.

“Hi, I'm Sophia, a project manager at HW. We specialize in projects from Indiegogo and Kickstarter. The best part of my job is seeing innovative ideas come to life. It's incredibly rewarding to collaborate with creators and witness their visions transform into successful products! Outside of work, I love exploring seaside destinations and traveling to new cities to discover local culinary delights.”

— Sophia

“I'm the founder at H&W, and our mission is to bring creators' ideas to market and help them succeed. We offer comprehensive services including electronic board design, enclosure case production, injection molding, quality control, assembly, packaging, supply chain management, and logistics. We thrive on guiding innovative ideas through EVT, DVT, PVT, and MP stages, turning visions into reality. In my free time I hang out with my family.”

— Wesley

Stay tuned — in future updates we’ll introduce more members of our expanding team.

🏭 2) Video updates from the factory

This update originally included a bunch of “factory adventure” clips — Alex, Wesley, and Sophia working on GLORB, plus office build clips and prototype footage. We’ll continue sharing more as we go (and also migrate key info into our user guide over time).

🔄 3) Some general progress updates

🌐 E-commerce website up and running

After Kickstarter in April we moved to Indiegogo InDemand for late pledges, but it didn’t perform as expected — so we started building our own e-commerce site to transition from crowdfunding into a sustainable business.

Our site: glorb.me

🔜 120 pre-production units made soon

We’re set to produce 120 pre-production GLORB units — a big step toward the finished product. These units will mainly go to content creators and reviewers, and also be used in-house for events and office testing. After review, we’ll do final adjustments before full production.

Key changes from test production

Surface finish: moved away from early “bumpy” textures toward a smoother satin finish.
Diffuser shields: improved overlap/fit to minimize gaps.
Plastic pigments: tested to reduce light bleed between triangles.
Custom PCBs + microphone: improvements in hardware and firmware.
Stronger LEDs: exploring higher output (white channel remains a challenge).

➕ Team expansion

+1 hardware specialist
+1 web developer consultant
+2 electrical engineer consultants
+1 full-stack developer intern

📦 Packaging design

We designed packaging for the 120 pre-production units aiming for a premium feel while staying cost efficient. We’re leaning toward paper pulp injection molding so packaging can be 100% recyclable.

📱 App design

We’re developing the app and software in collaboration with an experienced lighting-app designer. Goal: base functionality ready for the first batch you receive, and continuous updates after that.

Get the app: Download / open the GLORB app

🚣 Logistics and shipping

Logistics is complex: businesses in different countries, imports/exports, and safety testing requirements. We’re working through it and will keep you updated.

📝 4) BackerKit update — 88% complete

BackerKit has stalled at ~88% completion. The survey closes at the end of August — if you haven’t completed it by then, we won’t be able to send your GLORB together with the main shipments. If you complete the survey, your card will be charged for the BackerKit total amount shortly after the deadline — make sure funds are available.

We appreciate each and every one of you. Thanks for your patience — we’re doing our best to stay on top of everything.

The GLORB Team