Troubled Kickstarter project Coolest Cooler has reached a settlement with the Oregon Department of Justice, but the Portland business warned there are no immediate plans to deliver coolers to most of the 20,000 customers still waiting for them.

The deal sets an October 13 deadline for Coolest to ship coolers to its Oregon backers and to out-of-state customers who had previously complained to the Department of Justice. That's 873 customers altogether, according to the department.

For more than 19,000 remaining customers still waiting for their coolers, the agreement requires Coolest to create a "Backer Fund" financed with 10 percent of profits from future sales. That money would be used over three years to pay to send coolers to some of them.

Coolest Cooler timeline

July 2014

: Ryan Grepper launches Coolest Cooler on Kickstarter, reaches $50,000 funding goal in less than 36 hours.

August 2014

: Coolest Cooler breaks Kickstarter's fundraising record, with 62,642 backers raising $13.2 million. The vast majority of those backers pledge $185 for a cooler. Shipment of the coolers are set to begin in February 2015.

February 2015

: Grepper tells backers that production is still on track, but says "nothing ever goes exactly as planned."

June 2015

: Grepper says a "phased rollout" of the coolers will begin in July. He warns backers that due to production limitations, some won't receive their coolers by the end of the summer. The coolers will retail for $485, he says.

July 2015

: The first shipment of coolers leaves the factory.

August 2015

: Grepper tells backers all coolers should be on doorsteps by the end of November. More than 3,000 coolers have left the factory so far, he says.

Fall 2015

: A strike at the cooler's motor manufacturing factory brings production to a halt. Meanwhile, coolers appear on Amazon for $500, shipping to customers within days while Kickstarter backers wait for theirs.

December 2015

: Grepper announces that the factory strike has been resolved, and that production will resume in February.

February 2016

: Grepper announces additional delays.

March 2016

: Grepper tells backers that production has halted because Coolest Cooler is out of cash and the company needs $15 million.

April 2016

: Grepper offers a solution to weary backers: They can fork over an extra $97, ensuring delivery of their cooler by July 4. Production remains on hold.

May 2016

: Production resumes. Grepper says that more than 10,000 backers had paid the extra $97.

June 2016

: Grepper says the coolers have been shipped for the 10,400 backers who paid extra.

September 2016

: The price of the coolers on Amazon temporarily drops to $199, according to Kickstarter commenters, before settling at $225. The Oregon Department of Justice confirms that it is investigating Coolest Cooler.

June 2017

: Coolest Cooler settles with Oregon.

-- Anna Marum

Oregon began its investigation last fall in response to hundreds of complaints from Coolest Cooler customers. Coolest Cooler said the deal "vindicated" the project, but said it's unlikely those customers still waiting for their coolers will receive them this year – if they ever do.

"There is a lot of hard work still to be done and we simply can't guarantee our future success," Portland entrepreneur Ryan Grepper wrote in a message to project backers last week, first reported by the online journal GeekWire. "I can tell you we are trying to make the best decisions and chart the best path with the options at hand."

Grepper launched Coolest three years ago, promising tricked-out summer coolers that featured a phone charger, wireless speaker, built-in blender and other amenities. Coolest Cooler ultimately raised $13.2 million for nearly 63,000 coolers – the second-biggest Kickstarter project ever.

Within months, though, it became apparent Grepper was in way over his head. The coolers cost substantially more to manufacture than the $185 he charged on Kickstarter. (Currently, Grepper estimates it costs $235 to make and ship each cooler.)

To finance delivery of his Kickstarter commitments, Grepper sought to raise money by selling some coolers on Amazon, by recruiting outside investors and by asking his original backers for more money.

Kickstarter, a crowdfunding site wildly popular among artists and craftspeople, has proved ill-suited to entrepreneurs targeting the mass market. Coolest Cooler is the site's biggest failure, but there have been many others that didn't fulfill their pledges despite raising hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

In last week's note to backers, Grepper wrote that he needs $3 million to $4 million to fulfill remaining orders. He said he hopes to raise money by cutting production costs, selling more coolers abroad, introducing new products and by attracting investors – something that was impossible, Grepper said, during authorities' investigation.

"What I can tell you is that unfortunately for most of the remaining backers it won't happen this year," Grepper wrote. "Such an incredible amount of money and time resources went to cover the legal expenses that we are very limited in what we can do this summer."

This article has been updated with additional information from the Department of Justice.

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699