ElectricObjects
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Electric Objects was a New York City startup founded in 2014 and led by Jake Levine (formerly of Betaworks) that built 'a computer made for art.' Its EO1 was a 23-inch 1080p digital art display designed to hang on the wall like a framed picture, showing curated and community-uploaded artwork (over 20,000 pieces). After a 2014 Kickstarter campaign it began shipping the EO1 in 2015; in October 2016 it launched the thinner EO2 ($299) alongside a $9.99/month subscription art club with nearly 1,000 curated pieces from some 200 artists.
02 / ElectricObjects FAILURE REASONS
Failure factors
Electric Objects raised too little capital relative to the needs of its hardware business. By its planned later funding round, it could not secure enough money to continue.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Product or service closed
Electric Objects closed its hardware business in June 2017; Giphy acquired the app, while production of new devices ended.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
In 2017, Electric Objects was acquired by Giphy, and its digital art display product line was wound down as the company was absorbed.
- 02
The remaining Electric Objects service finally shut down in 2023, when its servers went offline and existing displays were left stuck on the 'Getting Art' screen until the community built replacement software.