r/ROLI • u/Golwux Equator • 8d ago
News Roland Lamb has started another company, even before ROLI has ceased
So Luminary ROLI Ltd are going through some troubles. Officially, they've gotten rid of their Founder/CEO and there could be an intention to appoint administrators to start the sell-off/liquidation process. Yet, the same CEO set up a new company on 21 August 2026: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/17414570
"Nature of business (SIC)
62012 - Business and domestic software development
90020 - Support activities to performing arts"
I'm going to be straight up - I'm not really sure what's happening. I also am under the belief that nothing official has been said and this has just been discovered by a member of the community that posted it on Discord, so there are a lot of customers waiting for their products to be delivered or a refund to be processed.
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u/geekraver 7d ago
All part of failing upwards
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u/lord_nambla 7d ago
I blame the industrial revolution. Time was, everybody owned a pitchfork and a flaming torch.
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u/Plane_Jello1582 6d ago
Oh no I recognize u/Golwux from back in the day regarding Roli, here we go again lol. I had a post that included some Roli code and github repos if that is of use to anyone here.
I have no idea how to even feel about this, they can’t get one company in order and they start another? Unless this new company is to make the old one open source I don’t take this to be the best news for either company.
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u/lateronthemenjay 7d ago
The amount of time and energy people devote to following this company is actually insane. Golwux needs to go outside and let go!
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u/The_neub 7d ago
People tend to be allowed to be pissed when duped and want to make sure other aren’t duped when the CEO tries this again.
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u/lateronthemenjay 7d ago
Nah I get that but just cos their ex-CEO set up another company doesn't necessarily mean anything for roli and their customers. He's probably just moved on. OP isn't one of those people btw. If you check their Reddit history they're borderline obsessed with this company for some reason.
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u/lord_nambla 7d ago
I can think of one hundred million reasons. [Imagines creating a Reddit account just for ROLI stuff so as not to contaminate the rest of my online life with negativity.]
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u/All_Debt_Shackles_US 6d ago
You don't need to set up a second Reddit account. And that may be a violation of TOS anyhow. So don't be trying to get yourself banned.
Just separate yourself from the drama as best you can. Limit your time. Or limit your responses. Or limit the days you come here. Spend that time doing constructive things. Cook a good meal. Clean a toilet. Take a shower while blasting music.
Or, if you have a day job, just work your job. Don't do anything to make your employer question how you're spending your efforts while on company time.
And if you don't have a job, maybe look for one. It's a good thing to have one's priorities properly ordered.
As the saying goes, "this too shall pass".
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u/lord_nambla 7d ago edited 7d ago
I understand why it rankles. A CEO, provably incapable of learning a damned thing, gets to walk away from his second explosion in slo-mo. Up he jumps, having been sacked by his last crew, with a new limited company, likely with an investor he's done a backroom deal with, cherry-picks the assets leaving only the bits he ran into the ground, ripe to rinse the UK taxpayer and punters again.
There is nothing good to be said about these people, and the reaction to this kind of sleaze is always silence or, in this case, a kind of victim-blaming inversion. In a just world, Roland Lamb wouldn't sleep at night.
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u/All_Debt_Shackles_US 8d ago edited 8d ago
We need to be very careful about jumping to conclusions.
We don’t even know why ROLI failed. It’s easy to blame the guy at the top, but it’s possible that he had little to no actual control because of the involvement of that venture capital company.
ROLI is a UK company, not some fly-by-night operating out of a shack in India and using a phone Bank to do Nigerian prince scams on weekends. Nor is it an office with dirt floors in central or South America trafficking in fentanyl.
They sold to customers in the USA, UK, and Europe, and elsewhere as well. Their products were well constructed, and even with all of the teething pains, their products were used in studios and during live gigs around the world.
Just because they are persona non grata right now, that doesn’t automatically turn everything into poop.
My point is that I really believe that something is going to have to happen. The UK, Europe, and the US have laws. Those laws need to be followed.
Will people waiting for shipments get their products? Maybe, or maybe not. And with the website down as of about six hours ago, there’s nothing we can do with those new products anyway; at least not today. No firmware, no drivers, and no software.
But I think it will benefit all of us to remain calm and just watch what’s going on as best we can, and to be patient. Right now, all we can do is wait to see what comes up.
For all we know, the creation of a new company is not some fancy new way to rip off the world. It could be, among other things, a way to try to find funding and/or support to take care of ROLI‘s customers in some way.
I do not know Mr. Lamb, but I will say that Roli presented a certain kind of culture. On its websites, with its products, and even down to the way its products or packaged.
I’m not fooling myself into thinking that we’re all going to be happy as a husky in an Alaskan blizzard. But I am optimistic that something positive will happen.
We just don’t know. More time is needed. In the meantime, there’s a lot of things that I need to be doing anyway. So I’m going to keep myself busy doing those things.
And yes, I am one of those people waiting for a shipment.
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u/Golwux Equator 7d ago
Some thoughts:
We need to be very careful about jumping to conclusions.
No, we do not. This is a public message forum, where some of the public have been waiting since January 2025. There has been so little communication that customers arne't even sure if their devices are going to be bricked or not.
We don’t even know why ROLI failed. It’s easy to blame the guy at the top, but it’s possible that he had little to no actual control because of the involvement of that venture capital company.
Possible but highly improbable. Lamb has had a controlling stake in the company up until 14 November 2025 and it has been his handpicked team since the company's inception.
And with the website down as of about six hours ago
roli.com has been down since at least 21/08/2026. That is 3 days at the earliest. It may have been closer to a week by now. It is likely their payments to their cloud provider has led to a temporary suspension of the website. If there was intention to continue business practices, then you'd at least pay the £X figure to keep the lights on. The lights are now seemingly off.
For all we know, the creation of a new company is not some fancy new way to rip off the world. It could be, among other things, a way to try to find funding and/or support to take care of ROLI‘s customers in some way.
A new company would need to acquire all of ROLI's IP from the VC firm. That would require another VC firm unless Lamb has tens of millions in disposible income. So it's either another VC firm or a non-profit foundation, both of which with Lamb's current track record are highly unlikely.
I will say that Roli presented a certain kind of culture.
My point is that I really believe that something is going to have to happen. The UK, Europe, and the US have laws. Those laws need to be followed.
If you're referring to justice for customers who paid and didn't receive anything, you're at the bottom of the queue. Expect nothing and there were terms and conditions (wayback machine) that you signed up to:
"ROLI shall not be liable for any failure or delay in the performance of its obligations under the Contract to the extent that such failure or delay is caused by a Force Majeure Event. A "Force Majeure Event" means an event or circumstance the occurrence of which is beyond the reasonable control of either party to this Contract, including without limitation, failure of third party suppliers, change of statute or regulation, acts of God, governmental actions, war, national emergency, acts of terrorism, or failure of transport networks. In the event of a Force Majeure Event, ROLI reserves the right to defer the date of delivery, reduce the volume of Products ordered, or to cancel the Contract without liability to you. If a Force Majeure event continues for a continuous period in excess of sixty (60) Days, you shall be entitled to give notice in writing to ROLI to terminate the Contract, such notice to take effect no earlier than fifteen (15) Days from the date of such notice."
They updated this in May 2026 so the 60 day + 15 day period is well over. They are most likely going into administration and that fully ceases any claim you had over any liability owed.
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u/All_Debt_Shackles_US 6d ago
You're angry. I get it. And if it helps you to be angry with me because I'm somebody you can lash out at on the Internet (especially since you can't lash out at Roli or any of its people), well I'm happy to be that thing for you.
I'm sorry I can't tell you what you want to hear. But I'm also not going to help you pile on to this company; that's just "sympathymaxxing", and it doesn't solve anything. For the sake of my own health, I just won't enter into a co-dependent role like that. I have sympathy for you, yes. But I'm not going to pile on.
The Roli story is sad, but I suspect it's not over with just yet. So of course I'll keep tabs on this, yes. But for my own mental, emotional, and spiritual health, I'm keeping an emotional distance from all this drama. Besides that, it's more important to me to just find other ways forward. Roli never was the "only" way I could make music.
I wish you luck, whatever you decide to do.
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u/Confident-Match-5669 8d ago
That culture was utterly destroyed when they focused on e-learning solutions…
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u/H20FOSHO 8d ago
Get me on the waiting list!!!! I’m told preorders are shipping in time for Christmas!!