Byron Bay composting tech startup Subpod is making the ultimate comeback, only months after its co-founder Saadi Allan announced the company would be closing its doors in February due to “difficult trading conditions”.
Subpod, which tackles food waste and soil health issues with its three-in-one modular system that combines compost, a worm farm, and a garden seat, has announced it will partner with US manufacturer Wisconic, a plastic injection molding company based in Wisconsin.
Allan confirmed the news in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday.
“After announcing our closure earlier this year we were overwhelmed by the level of community support,” he said in the post.
“Many conversations were had with passionate Subpod users and advocates, and one of these resulted in a pathway to a restructure and a great new partnership between the original Subpod team and Wisconic, the new home of Subpod.
“Subpod is set for relaunch in the US and Australia soon, with manufacturing being moved from China to the US over the coming months too!”
Speaking with SmartCompany, Allan confirmed he is no longer the CEO of the startup.
“Whilst I don’t have a formal role with Subpod anymore, I will be supporting Wisconic during the relaunch process and I am happy that the partnership will continue the Subpod mission and that Wisconic are committed to retaining the values that we founded Subpod with,” he says.
“I’m happy that Subpod can continue its mission to help people connect with nature via composting and growing.
“It was achieved by talking to many people who reached out after the closure of Subpod was announced and the incredible response from the community showing that the future of the brand was worth investing in.”
Allan said the team behind Wisconic were already Subpod users and were in the process of looking for brands that they could licence and manufacture in their facility in Wisconsin USA.
“The original Subpod shareholders retain ownership of the brand assets and have entered a global licensing agreement with Wisconic,” he explains.
“Key Subpod team members are supporting the transition, but Wisconic is the new home of Subpod and they will make staffing decisions as the process continues.”
Allan also confirmed the company will relaunch later this year in Australia and the US.
“Manufacturing is being moved to the US as Wisconic is a US-based manufacturing company with the expertise to manufacture Subpods in-house,” he says.
“The community has been very supportive since I shared the update and news has started to spread beyond my LinkedIn network to the Subpod community, with lots of positive responses shared in the Subpod Facebook group already.”
The composting tech startup entered the market in January 2019 via a campaign on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, following two years of developing and piloting prototypes from a small warehouse in Byron Bay.
The startup beat its fundraising goal by 300% and raised $350,130 from 1,579 backers in 21 countries by May 2019.
Officially launching in 2020, the startup hit the ground running and sold 17,000 Subpod classics in the same year before releasing a mini version of the Subpod in 2021.
However, in February 2024, Allan announced on Linkedin that he had decided to close Subpod due to difficult trading conditions.
“We have been fighting hard for many months to find a way to keep trading and the decision to close our doors has been made with heavy hearts,” the post said.
“I want to thank everyone who has supported Subpod over the years, from our co-founders, past and current team members, investors, trade partners and most of all the wonderful community of people who supported our dream of making composting and connection to nature a part of everyday life.
“With over 65,000 people in more than 20 countries using Subpod to turn food waste into soil food, together the Subpod community will continue to make a positive impact into the future.”
At the time, on behalf of the company’s team, Allan posted the same message to Subpod’s website, with one addition at the end of the statement.
“While we wind up operations over the coming weeks and enter the liquidation process we will do all we can to see if we can find a buyer who may want to purchase the assets and continue the brand. As we would love to still see Subpod exist into the future,” it read.
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