The company behind the most funded Kickstarter in history just closed down

Pebble, maker of the popular low-cost e-ink smartwatch of the same name, stopped making devices today and shut down the company.

Kickstarter backers who haven’t already received their devices will receive a full refund and existing devices will continue to work in the near term, though functionality may be reduced in the future.

“Thank you all for being such loyal supporters and champions of the Pebble community and brand,” wrote Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky on the official site. “You helped start something fantastic when you backed our first Kickstarter project (and shout-out to the first inPulse users). Since then, we’ve shipped over 2 million Pebbles around the world!

“However—due to various factors—Pebble is no longer able to operate as an independent entity. We have made the tough decision to shut down the company and no longer manufacture Pebble devices. “

While the hardware side of the company seems to be going away completely, Pebble did announce that many of their employees will be moving over to Fitbit to work on that company’s wearable software platforms.

Fitbit will also maintain services so that Pebble devices continue to work as normal, according to Migicovsky.

Pebble got its start as a Kickstarter project, eventually raising more than $20 million from 78,471 backers and becoming the most funded project in the service’s history.

For more details about the reasoning behind the quick closure and what you can do if you just bought a Pebble, check out the blog post.

In many ways, the original Pebble watched helped rekindle an interest in smartwatches and kicked off the recent spate of the modern devices. Make sure to read about the strange history of these wrist computers and our own reviews of today’s devices.