French watch company, SpaceOne, faced a rollercoaster of events as they went from raising a million dollars on Kickstarter to almost losing it all in a split second. Guillaume Laidet and Théo Auffret, the brains behind the “neo-futuristic horology” brand, were on the brink of disaster when a complaint from a similar named company, Aragon, led to a sudden refund of all pre-orders.
The duo had invested half of the pledged money into producing their first watch, the Argon, set for delivery in the summer of 2023. However, the unexpected turn of events left them scrambling to pay their bills and facing a lawsuit from Aragon for trademark infringement.
In a desperate bid to save their company, the founders rebranded as SpaceOne and launched a successful crisis communication campaign to regain the trust of their backers. Within days, they managed to raise the million dollars again and even announced a new model, the Tellurium, featuring a unique “heliocentric tellurium” design.
Despite the setbacks, Laidet and Auffret remain determined to provide affordable high horology to their customers, with hopes of competing with established brands like MB&F and De Bethune. The resilience and innovation displayed by SpaceOne serve as a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit in the face of adversity.
