Whatever happened to the $400 internet-connected juicer?

Juicero promised a remarkably polished answer to a remarkably ordinary problem: turning fruit and vegetables into juice. Its internet-connected press once sold for roughly $700 before the company dropped the price to $400.

The startup attracted more than $100 million in venture backing. Then Bloomberg reported in April 2017 that its proprietary produce packs could be squeezed by hand—without using the expensive machine at all.

The revelation was memorable enough to become a shorthand for venture-funded excess. But a viral demonstration was not, by itself, a full financial explanation. Reporting on the company's demise also described unsustainable costs, sluggish sales and an expensive operating model.

Juicero cut staff in July 2017. In September, it announced that it would suspend sales of presses and produce packs, seek a buyer and offer refunds to customers.

The much-discussed juicing revolution therefore reached a clear conclusion: the original company ceased operations in 2017. Its more lasting contribution may have been an unusually vivid reminder that adding Wi-Fi doesn't automatically add value.

The punchline was the machine. The actual story was a business that struggled to make the economics work.