Legend Espresso News
Number Two Twenty-Four
We’ve had a super eventful time since the last Legend Espresso news, and on all fronts, it’s clear: the vision is becoming sharper, and we’re making progress! Our team has grown again, and everyone is super motivated. But let’s take it one step at a time…
Frankenstein on the road
Although it’s really hard to rank all the events, one of the most impressive moments was at the end of June when our second prototype, »Frankenstein Two« left the workshop for the first time to hit the road. Specifically, it took us near Leipzig/Germany to the »Kulturbahnhof Leisnig«, where the first »your.company Business Hackathon« took place. Startups had the chance to present themselves with a pitch, and there were several keynote speeches from platforms like StartNext, Future Sax, and representatives from the Impact Hub Dresden.
Martin also presented Legend Espresso on stage, and we can definitely say: the highlight of the show was the Legend Espresso Bar – our repurposed, over 100-years-old workbench with our Frankenstein Two prototype as the centerpiece.
As I mentioned, it was the first time our second prototype truly left the workshop, and we completely underestimated the impact this step would have on Legend Espresso!
Even though we’ve been sharing our project digitally with the world for quite some time, we always thought it was too early to do so in person.
But the direct feedback and enthusiastic reactions to our Legend Espresso Bar were so amazing that it became clear we need to consider a physical presence on select ‘stages’ alongside the development of the actual machine. The intensity of the contacts and encounters is simply much greater and possibly more sustainable. We even received several inquiries about booking us for events!
This event fundamentally showed us that we are on the right path, that our approach resonates not only with open ears but also with bright eyes and deep enthusiasm.
Here are some impressions for you:
Independently of everything else, it was amazing for us to see that our Frankenstein Two consistently delivered excellent espresso and cappuccino for over 10 hours a day throughout the weekend with unwavering reliability.
Another stop took us to the »Day of Digital Freedom« at the Innovationszentrum Westspitze in Tuebingen/Germany. The event was a mix of a congress, expo, and community gathering with several hundred participants and dozens of sessions and keynote speeches on various current topics like »Ethics, Politics, and Society«, »Digitality and Maturity« and »Sustainability and Climate Justice«.
Right in the middle was our Legend Espresso Bar with the workbench, and once again, we were met with great enthusiasm! We realized that for such events, we should develop a box alongside the espresso machine equipped with buttons like »What makes your machine special«, »How did you come up with such an idea« and »Can I be the first beta tester?« which answers these questions at the push of a button.
By the end of the day, the Legend team could hardly contain their laughter as we were asked these questions for the umpteenth time 😁.
Afterward, Martin was a live guest on Radio »Wueste Welle« where he got the chance to present the Legend Espresso project—yes, he had to answer those questions there too 😂.
Here are a few snapshots for you:
Legend Espresso Website
If you follow us on Instagram, you know that alongside development, we’re also working on our social media presence and new content to keep you involved in the creation process as much as possible. To properly celebrate this milestone »Prototype II« with you, we shot a »Welcome Prototype II« trailer, where we showcased Frankenstein Two and its legendary workbench. You can find it right on the Legend Espresso homepage:
Lots of love went into this – check it out and feel free to leave us some feedback – it always boosts our motivation! 😉
the Financing
As mentioned in the last news, we planned two funding rounds. The first started in June and was expected to be completed by the end of Q3 2024. The second round is set to start in Q2 2025.
We’re super happy and a little proud to announce that the first funding round is already completed!! Wow! Huge thanks to everyone who supported us and believes in this project!!
Now we can confidently push forward with the development of the next prototype – our Legend V.01 – and continue writing this story together with you.
Speaking of writing history…
Legend Team
…we have a new protagonist on our stage!
Ladies and Gentlemen – put your hands together and give a warm welcome to Viktor Klassen!!
Viktor has a Master’s in Industrial Design and another in Computational & Advanced Design, and from now on, he and Martin form the tag team »Legend Product Design«.
We are incredibly happy that Viktor has joined our team! To be more precise, we found him when he gave an incredibly inspiring talk about his craft as part of the your.company network.
Basically, it’s been clear to us for months that we needed reinforcement on the design front. And when Martin heard and saw Viktor’s talk, he literally marched right up to him and tried to get
him excited about Legend Espresso.
Well – it worked… and it wasn’t even hard 😉
The perspective
As always, at this point: what’s next, and what are the upcoming steps?
In terms of development, engineers David, Eli S., and Johannes are currently focusing on the completely redesigned V2 brew head. This new brew unit is significantly smaller and more compact than the first, more energy-efficient, and, if everything goes as hoped, also more precise and responsive. Initially, a drop-in replacement will be constructed that can be inserted into the outer casing of the V1 group to test and verify the functional principle. If the findings meet our expectations, the outer casing of the V2 will be manufactured. These two steps are decoupled because producing the new outer casing as a prototype is very costly.
Additionally, David and Eli S. are working on the V2 lever group, incorporating all the insights from V1. It will be significantly more compact and likely very close to the production version.
The product design team is currently primarily focused on the drip tray and bottom design of the Legend V.01, in connection with the concept for fresh water and wastewater.
From there, we will move on to the statics of the Legend for the first time – how the machine stands and what the basic structure looks like.
The marketing team, consisting of Martin, Eli T., and Anastasia, is working on further developing the website (more on this in the next news) and continuously telling our story on our Instagram channel. Additionally, the three are preparing to launch on other social media platforms.
Meanwhile, Mirko is leading the charge on »patents« and »patent research«, and also software development is progressing well: Reto is continuously working on the Legend’s software, which in its latest version now allows control and display of flow rate, brew temperature, hot water temperature, etc., while Thomas is working on the implementation of the Legend App.
We also had a surprise visit from someone in our growing Legend Espresso community – shoutout to Alp Roaster Bernd! We always enjoy visits and exchanges with you!
If you want to make sure we’re actually around, please let us know beforehand – either via email at info@legend-espresso.com or on Instagram.
At the end of the newsletter, here are a few impressions of our work – thank you so much for your support and see you in the next news!
Your Legend Espresso team
P.S.: Since it’s now summer vacation and many of us have kids, things will be a bit quieter in August. To those going on vacation – enjoy your holidays!!
