Plastc
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Plastc was a fintech-hardware startup founded in 2014 that set out to build the most ambitious smart card ever: a single card with an eInk touchscreen that could digitally hold up to 20 credit, debit and loyalty cards, switchable via a Bluetooth-connected smartphone app, with NFC (like Apple Pay) and an EMV chip for chip-and-PIN. Launched via pre-orders in October 2014 at about $155 each, it collected over $9 million from more than 80,000 backers — but never shipped a single card.
02 / Plastc FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Plastc ran out of money before it could manufacture. A $3.5 million Series A expected to close in February 2017 fell apart when the lead investor postponed and then withdrew; a follow-on $6.75 million deal was rescinded at the last minute, a signature away from closing. Years of production delays had already eroded confidence — and by 2017 the window for a 'one card to replace them all' had closed, with Apple Pay and mobile wallets making the concept redundant.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Launch and pre-orders
Plastc launches in October 2014, promising a smart card holding 20 cards; collects over $9M in pre-orders (~$155 each, 80,000+ backers).
- Repeated delays
Ship date slips from April to September 2016 and beyond; the card never enters mass production.
- Shutdown and bankruptcy plans
On April 20, 2017, Plastc announces it will cease operations, lays off all employees, and says it is exploring a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing after its $3.5M and $6.75M funding deals collapse. Pre-order backers receive nothing.
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 / AFTERMATH
Aftermath
Plastc became one of the most notorious crowdfunding failures in hardware: $9M+ of backer money vanished with no product and no refunds. It followed rival Coin (acquired by Fitbit, then discontinued) into the graveyard of smart-card startups, alongside Stratos and Swyp — proof that a clever gadget could not survive the shift to phone-based mobile payments.