Geek-chic is hot these days. Models, celebrities and musicians proudly don t-shirts sporting superheroes, science fiction characters and video game references. There’s a surprisingly large segment of society that proudly identify as Bronies (bros who love My Little Ponies). The celebration of geek culture has gone from being publicly scorned to nearly mainstream, and Denver-based GeekFuel is helping geeks satisfy all their geeky desires.
GeekFuel is a monthly subscription box service that delivers all sorts of hard-to-source geeky swag to people’s doorsteps. Each box is packed to the brim with obscure memorabilia, a customized t-shirt and a full video game. In the past, boxes have included things like jars of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Ooze, Star Wars collecting cards, and Doctor Who ice cube makers.
GeekBox also recently partnered with the Colorado Symphony to send every subscriber in Colorado to the symphony’s rendition of music from Back to the Future. That box arrived on doorsteps on Oct. 21., the date that Marty McFly travelled to in the film.
While the subscription box model may sound like a low lift money making machine, the logistical complexity of sourcing all these geeky trophies is no joke — it’s not like they’re shipping products for dogs, and geeks are notoriously difficult to please.
“The logistics of the subscription box model have proven to be more complex than I originally expected,” Chaz Gray, CEO of GeekFuel said. “We’re not just buying products off the shelf and stuffing random items into a box. We’re carefully curating each box month after month to create a unique experience for our audience.”
GeekFuel launched a successful Kickstarter last October, in which it raised over $13,000 from 151 enthusiastic geeks. Although the company declined to share subscription numbers, they did say that they were preparing to move into a facility that would allow them to ship over 30,000 boxes per month. That’s a lot of geeks.
