Roli Has Fallen Apart—and Left Customers Holding the Bag - WIRED
By Google News Technology ·
Although it hasn't been officially announced, Roli reportedly ousted its CEO and founder, Roland Lamb, earlier this year. Since then, Roli has all but dissolved. (In August, a new company called Instrumental Intelligence was registered with the UK government under Lamb's name, a potential move by the founder to acquire Roli's assets). On Monday, Roli emailed users that two licensed insolvency practitioners were appointed joint administrators of Roli on October 20. The company went into administration, the UK process that manages corporate insolvency. This is the second time Roli has gone bankrupt. That has left a small but bereft community of customers with no word on getting the products they paid for. The Roli community has expressed sadness, anger, or outright confusion. In Facebook groups, the r/Roli subreddit, and other forums, dismayed users have struggled to find recourse for Roli equipment purchases ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars. The Roli subreddit has been awash with posts from customers who say they paid for orders months or years ago and have received no response or refund since then. Existing owners also worry about the long-term impact. Roli instruments rely heavily on proprietary software launchers and companion apps to connect, map sounds, and configure settings. While the hardware still functions, users fear that lack of software support will eventually leave their gear bricked. Roli has not publicly communicated about its future strategy with customers. The company did not respond to WIREDâs request for comment; Lamb did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Roliâs primary financial backers, investment firms TriplePoint Capital and Hoxton Ventures, also did not respond. A Change of Seasons Roli has faced financial struggles…
Originally published by Google News Technology