Artesian Builds

Artesian Future Technology LLC
Company type	Limited liability company
Industry	Computer hardware
Defunct	2022
Fate	Bankrupt
Headquarters	San Francisco, California
Key people	Noah Katz (CEO)
Website	http://www.artesianbuilds.com (archived)

Artesian Future Technology LLC, doing business as Artesian Builds, was an American custom PC manufacturing company.

History

Artesian Builds was founded as Artesian Future Technologies in 2017 by Noah Katz to sell cryptocurrency mining rigs.^[1] Katz's other business venture was an Etsy store selling custom cosplay armor founded in 2015.^[2] Artesian Future Technologies was rebranded in 2020 as Artesian Builds to a custom high-end PC gaming manufacturer. Artesian would build PCs live on Twitch.^[2]

Controversy

On March 1, 2022, Artesian held a Twitch live stream where it held sweepstakes to give away a PC. A streamer, Kiapiaa, won the giveaway, but Katz refused to give her the PC, claiming that she did not meet the requirements to be an "ambassador" because she didn't have a big enough social media following. Katz proceeded to reroll the sweepstakes. The decision caused an immediate uproar, with the company apologizing.^[3]^[4]

Bankruptcy and aftermath

On March 9, 2022, Artesian announced that it suspended all of its activities. On June 18, 2022, Artesian announced that it was holding a bankruptcy auction to sell off its assets. The assets sold in the auction included PC components, PCs, and GPUs.^[5]^[6]^[7]

References

^ Liao, Shannon (2018-05-31). "Cryptocurrency mining rigs are just PCs — so why won't Stripe let you sell them?". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
^ ^a ^b Asarch, Steven (30 March 2022). "How Artesian Builds became the Fyre Fest of gaming startups". Inverse. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
^ Wickens, Katie (2 March 2022). "Streamer tells custom PC builder to stuff their free PC after CEO's condescending comments". PC Gamer. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
^ Polhamus, Blaine (2022-03-01). "Artesian Builds backs out of giving streamer a PC in giveaway". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
^ Lal, Arjun Krishna (21 June 2022). "Artesian Builds puts thousands of PC parts, graphics cards, and partly-built systems worth nearly US$1 million up for bankruptcy auction". Notebookcheck. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
^ Mukherjee, Shreyan (23 June 2022). "What happened to Artesian Builds? Tracking PC manufacturer's fall from sponsoring big streamers to going bankrupt". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
^ "Artesian Builds ceases business amid giveaway controversy". GamesIndustry.biz. 2022-03-10. Retrieved 2022-11-01.

[:0-1] Liao, Shannon (2018-05-31). "Cryptocurrency mining rigs are just PCs — so why won't Stripe let you sell them?". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-11-01.

[:1-2] Asarch, Steven (30 March 2022). "How Artesian Builds became the Fyre Fest of gaming startups". Inverse. Retrieved 2022-11-01.

[0-3] Wickens, Katie (2 March 2022). "Streamer tells custom PC builder to stuff their free PC after CEO's condescending comments". PC Gamer. Retrieved 1 November 2022.

[4] Polhamus, Blaine (2022-03-01). "Artesian Builds backs out of giving streamer a PC in giveaway". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2022-11-01.

[5] Lal, Arjun Krishna (21 June 2022). "Artesian Builds puts thousands of PC parts, graphics cards, and partly-built systems worth nearly US$1 million up for bankruptcy auction". Notebookcheck. Retrieved 2022-11-01.

[6] Mukherjee, Shreyan (23 June 2022). "What happened to Artesian Builds? Tracking PC manufacturer's fall from sponsoring big streamers to going bankrupt". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2022-11-01.

[7] "Artesian Builds ceases business amid giveaway controversy". GamesIndustry.biz. 2022-03-10. Retrieved 2022-11-01.

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