You are right, they tried to hold ICO, and raised very little. My numbers might be off, but they raised around 10k$, but their target was 600k$.
I still think this is good partnership for Stratis, and here's why I believe so. Let's see about Gluon:
- the company was founded three years ago, so not completely a new kid around the block.
- it is dealing in non-trivial industry (automotive iOT devices) where blockchain can be potentially quite useful.
- Gluon raised 2$ million dollars (seed investment), and later more money in 2017 roundA series. Obviously the interest is there for this product to exist.
- They have working hardware prototype
Note that the founder of Gluon is also the founder of MTCParts (a company that has existed over 34 years, and has multi million dollar turnover, car parts used in over 100k cars). Also, the other co-founder of Gluon is also COO/Vice president in MTCParts. These guys know how to run a company, and have been doing for very long time, they are not beginners.
I like to always see people behind products, and what they have accomplished, and it looks good to me. I personally won't be investing because I don't get excited by cars, as I don't have one, nor do I really understand anything about cars
.
Why they failed to raise the amount, we don't know. Maybe they failed to realise that ICO investors do want very clear picture, and understanding how they will make their money back.
Stratis can greatly benefit from this because they are going to help Gluon with everything that is necessary to develop the platform they're looking for. If you look under "how it works" you can see plans to have a sidechains that are connected to stratis platform.
It is not simply an ICO, but Stratis (first?) customer, I doubt they will be able to do everything themselves, as it can be quite complex
.