What looks wrong
A bladeless razor that shaves with a laser, no nicks, no cartridges, spring delivery.
What’s actually going on
Skarp Technologies' 2015 Kickstarter raced past $4 million. On 12 October 2015 Kickstarter suspended the campaign for violating the rule that physical products need a working prototype. Pledges were cancelled before cards were charged. Skarp relisted on Indiegogo the same day. Years of updates did not produce a shipping razor. BBC News covered the suspension in real time.
Skarp's pitch was a science-fiction bathroom: a handheld laser that cut hair at the skin, no blades, no irritation, no landfill of cartridges. The campaign needed $160,000. It blew past $4 million in three weeks, with more than 20,000 pledges.
Kickstarter's hardware rule is not decorative. If the reward is a physical product, the creator has to show a working prototype. On 12 October 2015 the platform emailed backers that Skarp was in violation and the campaign was suspended. Because Kickstarter charges only after a successful close, those $4 million pledges were never taken.
Skarp said it did have a prototype and moved to Indiegogo within hours, where flexible funding meant it could take money without hitting a goal. BBC quoted the company telling fans not to worry and promising a spring unit. A spring unit that backers could shave with did not arrive in 2016, or in the years of sporadic updates after. The grave here is the demo gap: a campaign that could sell a future and could not show the object.
Source: BBC News, 'Laser razor kicked off Kickstarter,' 13 October 2015. We quote the public record. A settlement is not always an admission.