What Happened to Nomiku? The Inside Story of this Sous Vide Pioneer‘s Rise and Fall

Hey there! If you‘re into cooking gadgets like me, you‘ve probably heard of the Nomiku immersion circulator. This innovative device helped kick off the sous vide revolution by bringing restaurant-quality cooking into our home kitchens.

But Nomiku‘s story has a bit of a sad ending. The company shut down in 2017, leaving fans like us wondering – what happened?

As a fellow sous vide enthusiast, I wanted to get to the bottom of the Nomiku story. I did a deep dive into their history to find out how this pioneering startup went from Kickstarter darling to out-of-business so quickly.

Here’s the inside scoop on the remarkable rise and tragic fall of Nomiku.

Chapter 1: Nomiku‘s Humble Beginnings

Our story starts in 2012 with a married couple named Abe and Lisa Fetterman. After meeting in Silicon Valley, these two food lovers came up with the idea for Nomiku based on a simple observation:

Sous vide machines at the time were bulky, commercial-grade appliances only used by restaurants. Why wasn‘t there an affordable, easy-to-use option for home cooks?

To fill this gap in the market, the Fettermans devised the idea for a consumer sous vide immersion circulator. Their goal was to bring the precision of sous vide into ordinary home kitchens.

With little more than a vision, Abe and Lisa took to Kickstarter in 2012 to fund development of the first Nomiku device. The response blew them away – over 1,300 backers pledged $300,000, quadrupling their $75,000 goal!

Clearly, home cooks like you and me were hungry for a taste of sous vide. With funding and support behind them, the Nomiku team shifted into high gear.

Chapter 2: Nomiku Rises to Prominence

In early 2014, the first Nomiku immersion circulator started shipping out to eager backers. It attached to any pot and allowed home cooks to set precise temperatures through a handy app.

Reviews poured in raving about how Nomiku delivered perfect sous vide results every time. Buzz about this handy little device spread rapidly among food lovers online.

Over the next two years, Nomiku sales took off through partnerships with major retailers like Williams-Sonoma, Whole Foods and Amazon. By 2015, they had over 10,000 units in customers‘ hands and $1 million in new funding.

Things were looking good! Nomiku had established themselves as the go-to device for home sous vide cooking. But the road ahead would prove bumpy.

Chapter 3: Storm Clouds Gather

Now, here‘s where the story takes a turn. Competition in the sous vide cooker market absolutely exploded around 2015 and 2016.

Devices from brands like Anova and Sansaire offered similar features to the Nomiku at competitive prices. Plus, tons of copycat startups were popping up left and right trying to grab a slice of the sous vide pie.

This sudden flood of competition put major pressure on the fledgling Nomiku. According to food industry experts, they struggled to differentiate themselves from the growing crowd of sous vide circulators.

At the same time, unexpected manufacturing delays impacted release of their 2nd generation product. These setbacks eroded some of the enthusiasm among Nomiku‘s early adopters.

While Nomiku had enjoyed smooth sailing at first, storm clouds were clearly gathering on the horizon. The challenges kept piling up as competition reached a boiling point…

Chapter 4: The Downfall

Despite the building headwinds, the Nomiku team forged onward. In 2017, they launched a new Kickstarter to fund the "Nomiku Sous Vide Tender" – what they envisioned as the ultimate home sous vide device.

But the campaign fell devastatingly short, raising just $80,000 of a planned $100,000. To make matters worse, sales of their existing products hit a plateau.

It turned out the market was saturated with an overwhelming number of comparable sous vide options. Nomiku simply couldn’t keep up with rivals backed by more resources and infrastructure.

By late 2017, the writing was on the wall – Nomiku didn’t have a sustainable path forward. They had run out of funding options and their sales pipeline had dried up.

After a remarkable 5 year run, the Nomiku co-founders made the difficult decision to shut down operations. It was a shocking end to a once promising sous vide startup.

Practically overnight, one of the pioneers of consumer sous vide cooking had gone belly up. It just shows how competitive and unforgiving the world of kitchen gadgets can be!

Chapter 5: Attempting a Comeback

Now, if this story ended here it would be pretty sad. But there’s actually an surprising epilogue…

In early 2018, Abe and Lisa boldly announced the revival of Nomiku! This time, however, they planned to take it in a very different direction.

Rather than sell devices, the “new” Nomiku would be an open-source platform for the sous vide community. Home cooks could share recipes, participate in forums, and even design their own devices.

It was an admirable idea – trying to turn Nomiku into a decentralized, community-run project. But unfortunately, this comeback attempt failed to gain much traction.

Despite Abe and Lisa’s efforts, Nomiku’s time had passed. With so many newer, flashier sous vide products on the market, an open-source offshoot stood little chance.

By late 2018, the Nomiku brand was essentially retired for good. A noble effort to revive it as community project, but the world had moved on.

Chapter 6: Lessons from the Nomiku Story

Looking back, Nomiku clearly paved the way for consumer sous vide cooking. But they also made some critical mistakes we can learn from:

Innovation is everything. Nomiku stopped innovating while rivals charged ahead. New product features and tech should be an obsession.

Build rock-solid operations. Nomiku struggled to manage manufacturing and inventory. Invest heavily in scalable operations.

Diversify your product line. Relying on just one core product made Nomiku replaceable. Branch out early and often.

Obsess over quality. Reports of quality issues damaged Nomiku’s reputation. Quality control should be top priority.

Watch cash flow. Nomiku ran out of cash and had to shut down abruptly. Manage finances meticulously.

While Nomiku ultimately collapsed under competition, their pioneering sous vide devices sparked a revolution in home cooking. The company may be gone, but its legacy lives on in every Perfectly cooked home sous vide meal.

So next time you fire up your immersion circulator, be sure to pour one out for Nomiku – the little startup that helped make sous vide a fixture of modern home kitchens!

Hope this scratches your curiosity itch about what happened to this innovative company. Let me know if you have any other cooking gadget stories you’d like me to dig into!

Happy sous viding,

Lillie