Kickstarter’s most epic failure asks backers for more money

The makers of the Kickstarter-funded Coolest Cooler continue to kick sand in the faces of indignant backers, who’ve yet to receive their product.

After blowing $13 million in funding without fulfilling its obligations to more than 36,000 of its backers, founder Ryan Grepper has told supporters they can finally have their cooler, as long as they fork out even more cash.

Now, for a cool $97, those still waiting for their admittedly pretty sweet cooler – complete with a bottle opener, Bluetooth speaker, USB charger and margarita mixer – will actually receive it.

However, this $97 is on top of the $165-$225 backers already paid back in summer 2014 – and all this while the product remains available for anyone to buy on Amazon for $399.

Grepper says this extra money is needed to fund production and those who hand over the cash will get receive their cooler before 4 July.

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Grepper says the original pledge levels were too low, and not enough to fund production.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t set the pledge levels high enough to cover the final quality of the Coolest Cooler,” Grepper wrote in an update sent to backers (via Motherboard).

“The Coolest Cooler ultimately cost more than we expected to develop and manufacture.

“We would allow backers to pay for the remaining cost of their Coolest to get it faster, with a guaranteed delivery date before July 4,” Grepper added. “We are open to this option and exploring it here because you have asked us to do so.”

Grepper claims that he will fulfil the orders of every backer “as long as there is breath in [his] body”, while assuring that the company won’t be entering bankruptcy, à la Zano.