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How the airlines killed two brands
The no-battery rule on airline check-in baggage doomed two brands to an early shut-down.
When Josh Udashkin came up with this idea of a ‘trackable’ luggage solution three years ago, he had hoped to ease the pain of the hundreds of passengers who lose their luggage in various places.
His startup, Raden, launched hardshell cases that were loaded with phone chargers, weight-measuring tools, and an app that tracked the location of your bag. Unfortunately, a built-in battery was essential to make sure that these worked.
Last December, as all airlines imposed the no-battery rule, Raden lost out and had to shut down after sales dried up. Udashkin’s was the second brand to die because of the airlines’ change of policy. Bluesmart, another smart luggage startup, bit the dust on May 1. Both of these startups focused on the tech features of the luggage.