01 December 2021 by Calan

Hi all,

If you backed the Loogun via Kickstarter, then you should've received an email a little earlier today requiring your address details. You can add your details and change them right up until we lock the survey form. We'll give you a week's notice before we lock it so you'll have time to make any final changes if you need to.

If you've pre-ordered a Loogun through the website, then we already have your details, but we'll give you a chance to update them a few weeks before we start shipping. We won't ship your product until you confirm we have the correct address.

It's been 2 months since our last Kickstarter update so I thought it was time to write one. To be honest, while we've been up to a lot during this time, in terms of the product itself there isn't a huge amount to report.

When I sent the last update we had just started tooling. Assuming everything goes perfectly smoothly with tooling, it generally takes around 60 days to prepare the first tools and production samples. Invariably the tools then require some tweaking until you're happy with the final product. We're just at the point where the first set of tools are ready and the first sample has been created. It is very close other than for the reservoir tool which needs some refinement to sizing, and the device colour which needs a little tweak. Generally though, it's looking very good. These tweaks will take another week and we're expecting to have production samples delivered to London by 15th December.

One thing I do need to make you aware of is that we're likely looking at a delay of between 2 to 3 weeks. The reason for this is because we're putting the Loogun through 5 certification standards and this is going to delay us slightly as we need to wait for approval before we start full production. In all other respects we're on track with our original schedule but I thought it best to let you know about this as soon as possible. We'll do our best to speed it through certification but realistically with it being just before Christmas, I'm not sure we'll have a lot of luck. That said, we're aiming to be shipping by early February.

We're currently working on our packaging. We've decided on the style of the packaging and we're currently working on the content, design and instruction insert. I'll write a blog post about this in case anyone is interested and I'll add some images as soon as we have a design to look at. We're aiming to not use any plastic in our packaging and are looking at recycled pulp for the protective inserts so that our entire packaging is sustainable.

In terms of a company update, we're now part of TrueStart, a retail accelerator based in London that invests in innovative retail and consumer product startups. They have a great network around them that will help open retail doors, and it's nice to be around other companies facing similar challenges.

I've started writing more on the Loogun blog so you can read a few updates if you're interested in our progress. A few people asked so I wrote a post about why we chose to use AA batteries. Please leave a comment or question about anything you'd like to know more about. I realise most people don't want to spend their time reading posts from a toilet product company but I'm happy to answer anything about the process we've been through or where we're heading.

Have a great week.

Calan