It sounds too good to be true: a close-shaving razor powered by a tiny laser that whisks your beard away without irritating or damaging your skin. But the makers of the Skarp Laser Razor claim their product can do all of this and more.
Now the crowd funding site Kickstarter has heightened concerns that the project may truly be too good to be true, according to the BBC. This week Kickstarter suspended Skarp’s account, even though backers have already pledged more than four million dollars to the project.
Concerns about the feasibility of the razor were raised by Reddit users, some of whom called the concept “far-fetched.” In response, the company released a 9-minute video purporting to show the device in action.
But Kickstarter was not impressed. Their note to followers of the project stated that the company had violated Kickstarter rules that require companies to demonstrate they have working prototypes of any devices before they can solicit backers.
Skarp insists that the device works as advertised, and has moved its funding appeal to the Indiegogo crowd funding site.
Skarp is not the first device to fall flat after a promising Kickstarter campaign. The mini-drone company Zano drone was Europe’s most successful Kickstarter funding appeal, but the company has been plagued by technical problems and angry backers.