In 2018, when I saw a company called Silo launch a crowdfunding campaign for a modern food storage system – essentially Tupperware for the digital age – I couldn’t resist. I pulled out my credit card and backed it.
Little did I know it would take nearly a decade for the product to show up at my doorstep. However, last month, I noticed that Silo had finally begun shipping to backers, and just last week, mine arrived.
So what took so long?
Like many hardware startups over the past five years, Silo ran into major headwinds. The first big hurdle was the pandemic, which prevented the team from traveling to China to oversee manufacturing. They also struggled to raise additional funding after one investor got cold feet and pulled out during COVID.
“When COVID erupted globally, I got a phone call saying, ‘Hey, listen, we’re not going to transfer the funds,’” Silo CEO Tal Lapidot told me in 2022.
Eventually, the company secured a new investor, and Lapidot reassembled a team to bring the product to market. Now, three years later, the product is finally shipping.
According to the company, units have been sent to all backers who completed their surveys, and Silo is now also selling the system on its website. When I backed the campaign in 2018, the entry price was a relatively low $199. Today, nearly seven years later, the base system, which features the vacuum seal unit, scale, and four storage containers, sells for $499. A 12-piece version goes for $649.
Early feedback from Kickstarter backers (those who didn’t request a refund) has been mixed to positive. One backer has even started a Facebook group for users. I’ll be testing mine soon and will share a full review in the coming weeks..
