An Open Letter to our Backer Community
about 4 years ago
– Fri, Mar 20, 2020 at 12:50:45 AM
Dear backers,
We would like to provide an update on the state of our company, sales, and manufacturing given the coronavirus pandemic, and its impact on our operations.
First and foremost we want to again recognize the faith that all the backers had in us and our vision to build game-changing audio and communication products for helmet sports. Without you we would not be able to get off the ground in the first place. Second, we want to apologize to the remaining backers who have yet to receive their orders. As promised from the onset, our plan has always been to fulfill all backer orders but please bear with us as we try to navigate our company during this challenging time.
Operations: Our business is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and as with most locations worldwide, we are complying with work from home and social distancing directives. Our daily operations continue but we've asked 70% of our staff to work from home, with only certain engineering functions, which rely on on-site machinery/tools, taking place at the office.
Supply Chain: While our final assembly takes place in Mexico and Canada, many of our components including plastics, batteries and packaging are made in China. Since mid-January we've seen a significant slow down in our suppliers' deliveries, with parts being delayed and short shipped. The coronavirus picked up steam in China over the Chinese New Year shutdown, resulting in a near stop of all remaining materials we needed to assemble further product. This made it near impossible for us to finish and ship the remaining MotoPro and ProRemote product as we had planned and communicated to you in our previous update.
In recent weeks our Chinese suppliers have started to resume operations but at partial capacity. We are expecting to receive the outstanding supply by early April but this is not yet certain as the situation is changing daily, and things can still get worse before they get better. At this point in time our best guess is that we will not be able to ship units until May this year.
Financing: In late 2019 we spent a considerable amount of time trying to secure outside funding to help Domio Sports scale. We had promising discussions with leading companies in the audio/electronics and distribution space, which led to a significant financial agreement that was signed in February.
The funds were to be used for scaling manufacturing, fulfilling the remaining back orders and building larger product batches, so that we can stockpile inventory and better prepare for any fluctuations in future demand and supply.
With the pandemic outbreak and the crash of the financial markets, our discussions and finalization of this deal have been put on hold until further notice. See related CNBC Article: Many Silicon Valley deals are on pause until coronavirus uncertainty clears
Sales: With the delay in funding, our ongoing sales are important for overall business operations and cash flow.
While we wait for the outstanding parts for the MotoPro and ProRemote, we do have some remaining inventory of the Ripper and Moto models that we continue to sell (note: backers have received their orders of these units in 2019).
At this time we are focusing on selling and shipping this inventory of Ripper and Moto, as well as pre-selling the MotoPro and Remote with an estimated delivery of May.
We recognize that all backers should ideally receive their units first, before selling to new customers. But, to best ensure that our business survives this pandemic and that we can guarantee to deliver the remaining pre-orders we must continue selling in the meantime. To put it another way: as much as we would like to, it is nearly impossible for us at this point to stop all new sales, deliver past pre-orders, and only resume sales afterwards.
As a result, you will continue to see Domio Sports marketing and selling our products online, as we try to bring in much needed cash flow and navigate through this challenging time.
Our Ask: We ask you for understanding when you see this, rather than frustration. We did not forget about our remaining backers, and once our supply side issues are resolved we will be shipping again. We ask that you consider our Customer Service team, who are doing their best during this trying time to answer all inquiries from backers, existing, and potential customers.
We are grateful for your support and understanding. Without you we would not be here. From all of us at Domio Sports we wish you and your families all the best during this hectic time.
Stay safe,
Domio Sports Team
Bart & Sebastian - Founders
