A “smart” cider home brew appliance, developed by a Taiwanese start-up, has been well-received on crowdfunding Web site Kickstarter, collecting more than US$33,000 shortly after the project was launched, the start-up team said.
Alchema, a start-up that aims to make brewing cider at home easy, launched the project on Kickstarter on Tuesday, Alchema vice president Lin Po-fu (林柏甫) said.
Alchema’s original target was US$80,000 in 45 days, but more than US$33,000 was collected one day after the launch of the project, Lin said.
Alchema is using the platform as a way to sell its “smart” appliance as it moves toward mass production. It is currently only shipped to Taiwan, Canada and the US, according to information on its Web site.
After two years, Alchema developed the countertop appliance that ferments fruit into cider or wine. The product is designed to make brewing as easy as making coffee, Alchema said.
The appliance works in three steps. First, users can browse and select recipes using a companion smartphone app; then put fruit, sugar, yeast and water into the machine; then after one to two weeks the fruit will have fermented into cider and the app will alert the user.
The appliance can also monitor temperatures, weight, air pressure and alcohol content during the fermentation process, and this can be accessed through the app.
Alchema is made up of 10 Taiwanese aged between 25 and 30, whose backgrounds are in electrical engineering, software design, mechanical design, food science and filmmaking.
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