A new fitness tracker called the HealBe GoBe promises to change the way we work out. There’s just one problem: It might be vaporware.聽
This week, the new tech company HealBe and crowdfunding site Indiegogo updated their FAQs in response to doubts of HealBe鈥檚 legitimacy. But prospective backers are still asking plenty of questions.
James Robinson with PandoDaily, a website devoted to covering startups, shot a query to HealBe : Does this supposedly revolutionary product even exist? HealBe claims its tracker provides users with the first automatic calorie count by reading the glucose in your cells, live hydration levels, and other impressive (and implausible-sounding) features. The company promised to share information on its patents, but we鈥檝e seen nothing yet.
Well, not nothing. Indiegogo responded with an , which points out that not all campaigns go through the fraud review process. The site refuses to pull the .
Here鈥檚 what we do know about HealBe. It鈥檚 based in Moscow and it has a public relations and legal team in New Hampshire, Robinson reports. It also has a . And it鈥檚 raised .
The company , CEO Artem Shipitsin. The San Francisco office it claims to use as a base doesn鈥檛 exist, and the GoBe never appeared at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show despite what HealBe said. The Federal Trade Commission until it releases some legitimate information.
鈥渢he crowd鈥 is doing its part. Refund requests are piling up on the project鈥檚 , and HealBe鈥檚 reclusiveness even spurred the first Indiegogo parody page. The fraud team . HealBe鈥檚 campaign expires next week, so hopefully we’ll have an answer by then. Indiegogo鈥檚 reputation may rest in the balance.
Update: “HealBe” is a failed Russian cakeshop owner. And no one’s getting their money back. Read the full story .