Wyrmwood’s new standing desk requires a $3,000 buy-in on Kickstarter

Wyrmwood is expanding its home furniture offering, which has been well-known for making a variety of luxury wooden gaming accessories. Wyrmwood Modular Desk is the heir apparent of the Geek Chic crown. It’s a solid wooden work-from-home desk that can be seated or stood. It just might be the most elegant new PC gaming peripheral released this year — but it’s going to cost you $3,000 MinimumTo reserve your spot in the line for one, please do so.

Wyrmwood, founded in 2015, has always been focused on gaming. It offers innovative storage options for dice and miniatures as well as gaming tables that can be topped and Dungeon Master screen displays. It launched an ambitious crowdfunding campaign in 2020 for its Wyrmwood Modular Gaming Table. The table raised $8.8 million via Kickstarter within the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic. The project helped the company expand, with a new U.S. facility and improved tooling. But the economics of that project didn’t work out in the company’s favor.

“It could have been the end of us,” said co-founder Ed Maranville in a recent interview with Polygon. “We knew it could go one of two ways. Either we’d be out of business, or we’d be a much different company — and a much bigger company — than we had ever been. […] We’ve been operating at a loss the past couple years. This year, though, we’re out of that. We are actually turning that around, and all the investments we’ve been making the past few years are set to pay off in a big way.”

The Modular Desk is available in a standard (60” by 30”) and an XL (78” by 36”), in both a fixed height and as a motorized sit/stand desk with onboard memory that recalls three different heights. Other accessories include an adjustable cable management system, magnetic storage and add-ons for cups, mugs and headphones. There are many options available for podcasters or streamers. Mounts can be added for lighting and microphones.

Wyrmwood Modular Desks start at $1,750. However, when Kickstarter launches on Tuesday, potential customers will have to pay a great deal more to secure their desk. Wyrmwood will establish a minimum $3,000 buy-in for its first 1,000 desks available on Kickstarter. Maranville stated that it is the goal to offer additional desks for a reduced buy-in, if this happens during the campaign.

What is the reason for such high buy-ins? Maranville said it’s because of several factors. First, past campaigns have shown that few consumers opt for Wyrmwood’s least expensive solutions. In this instance, $3,000 represents what the company’s leadership expects consumers will want to spend on a desk. This cost is also influenced by the quality of product, including solid wood panels, drawers, and sophisticated joinery. But that high price point is largely just a byproduct of Wyrmwood’s maturation as a company.

“It’s not just us anymore,” Maranville said, referring to himself and co-founder Doug Costello. “We’re responsible for these lives. […] In total, we’re approaching 200 people across two states. That’s a lot that’s dependent on where things go. So now, we’re moving into furniture because then we can scale up that way. There’s a massive market for it, and we can hopefully give everybody here a better living. We can also help ourselves. However, I have shifted my responsibility.

“We are a premium company at the end of the day,” Maranville continued. “Because we are making things in the U.S., we do have to aim pretty high. […] It’s like double the price [of any other sit/stand desk on the market], because it just has to be to be sustainable.”

On Oct. 18, the campaign to purchase the Wyrmwood Modular desk will begin. Backerkit will take orders later.