Teforia, startup that made $1,000 tea infusers, calls it quits
First, Silicon Valley disrupted the juice industry with a $400 machine that basically just squeezes a bag of juice. Then it bravely innovated with a $1,000 device that infuses water with tea, much like a metal tea infuser, but at 100 times the price.
Alas, both are officially dead. Juicero went belly up in September, and now Teforia has gone to that big recycling bin in the sky.
On Friday, the company announced "it is with heavy hearts that we are announcing that all business operations, for Teforia Company, will cease effective today."
RIP, Teforia. Now consumers will be denied your $1,000 infuser, with its "patent-pending microinfusion technology" and precise steep time controls.
The good news? Tea bags still exist. Also, you can by one of the remaining Teforia infusers for the heavily discounted price of $199.
Teforia raised $12 million around a year ago, because capitalism. Consumers eagerly await the next disruption from Silicon Valley, maybe a robot that opens bottles of kombucha, or a toaster, but it's $10,000. Who even cares anymore ...
Keith Wagstaff is an assistant editor at Mashable and a terrible Settlers of Catan player. He has written for TIME, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, NBC News, The Village Voice, VICE, GQ and New York Magazine, among many other reputable and not-so-reputable publications. After nearly a decade in New York City, he now lives in his native Los Angeles.
