The short answer.
Yes, LiberNovo is a real company shipping a real product. It is not a scam.
It is a Hong Kong hardware company founded by a team out of DJI and Narwal. It ran a Kickstarter campaign from 24 June to 23 August 2025 that raised HK$79,966,705, roughly US$10.27 million, from 11,620 backers; roughly 20,000% of its goal; and it began retail shipping on 21 October 2025. The chairs are certified to BIFMA X5.1, UL962, FCC and RoHS. Seven independent publications have reviewed the Omni and published their conclusions, ranging from 4/10 to Editor's Choice. There are no product recalls and no safety notices against any LiberNovo chair.
So the question isn't really "is this a fraud". The honest question is "is this a young company, and what does that mean for me if something goes wrong in year three?" That's a fair concern, and it's the one worth spending your attention on. We'll go through it properly below; including the bits that don't flatter the brand, and including our own commercial interest, which is that we sell these chairs.
What LiberNovo actually is.
LiberNovo is a hardware company, not a furniture house. The founding team came out of DJI and Narwal; drones and robot vacuums; which explains a lot about the product. The Omni is a chair with a motor in it that drives the lumbar support forward through 50mm of travel and can put your lower back through a five-minute stretch cycle. That is a consumer-electronics way of thinking about a chair, and it's the source of both the enthusiasm and the scepticism.
We're not going to give you a founding date, because LiberNovo doesn't publicly disclose one, and every site that confidently states one is guessing. Same with the founder's name. If a "review" site tells you those things with certainty, it's inventing them.
The company exhibited at NeoCon 2025 in Chicago. It exhibited; it didn't win anything there, whatever you may read elsewhere. The Omni did win an iF Design Award 2026, which is a real, verifiable award. Other design awards attributed to the range online are company claims we have not been able to verify, so treat those as marketing rather than fact.
The 2026 range is four chairs: the Omni SE (manual), the Omni (motorised), the Omni Pro (motorised, with a seat fan) and the Maxis, a big-and-tall model with a six-year frame warranty. Pre-orders opened 12 May 2026 and the range launched 16 June 2026.
The Kickstarter, and whether it actually delivered.
This is where most of the anxiety lives, and reasonably so. Plenty of crowdfunded hardware never ships.
This one did. Retail shipping began 21 October 2025, and LiberNovo claims the campaign is the most-funded ergonomic chair project in Kickstarter history.
But Australian backers had a rough run. Deliveries here ran late through October and November 2025, driven by port congestion and typhoons. LiberNovo acknowledged the delays publicly and apologised for what it called "fulfillment mismatches"; backers receiving the wrong configuration, or nothing, while later orders landed. More than 1,100 items went out to Australia in a single batch, with more at the end of December.
That's a real black mark on logistics execution. It is also, importantly, the opposite of what a scam looks like. Fraudulent campaigns don't publish apologies about batch sequencing and then ship 1,100 units to one country.
The certifications are real, and they're the ones that matter.
| Certification | What it covers |
|---|---|
| BIFMA X5.1 | The furniture industry's structural durability standard; tested across 100,000+ cycles. The Omni is rated to 136 kg under it |
| UL962 | Electrical safety for household and commercial furnishings |
| FCC | Electromagnetic emissions |
| RoHS | Restriction of hazardous substances |
| UN38.3 | Battery certified safe for transport |
BIFMA X5.1 is the one to care about. It's the standard Herman Miller and Steelcase test to. You don't get it by paying a fee; you get it by putting the chair on a rig and cycling it until it either survives or doesn't.
The UN38.3 battery certification matters for a different reason: it's why the chair can legally get on a plane or a ship at all. An uncertified lithium battery doesn't move through international freight.
What independent reviewers actually concluded.
Seven outlets have published hands-on reviews. They disagree with each other, which is exactly what you want to see; it means nobody's reading from a press release.
| Outlet | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Notebookcheck | 4/10; "A love hate relationship" |
| Tom's Hardware | Sceptical; motor "gimmicky at best and a liability at worst" |
| TechRadar | 4/5, Recommended |
| Tom's Guide | Editor's Choice |
| Android Authority | Editor's Choice, after a three-month test |
| Stuff | 5/5 |
| Mark Ellis Reviews | Most positive; roughly a year of ownership |
Read the critical ones first. Notebookcheck praised the adjustability and the materials but marked it down hard on price, a mostly-plastic build and loose armrests. Tom's Hardware went after the motor and, more pointedly, the company: "LiberNovo is a brand-new company that's riding off a wild Kickstarter high, and that might not be a good thing." And: "Chairs aren't supposed to be something you refresh every year and a half."
That last line is the single best criticism anyone has made of this product category, and we'd rather you read it than not.
One thing to keep in mind: some of these outlets also run LiberNovo-sponsored content alongside their editorial reviews. That doesn't make the editorial coverage dishonest, but it's a reason to weight the sceptics; Notebookcheck and Tom's Hardware; a bit more heavily when you're forming a view.
The concerns that are actually legitimate.
Here's where we stop defending and start conceding.
The company is young.
This is the real risk, and no amount of certification paperwork addresses it. A five-year frame warranty is a promise, and a promise is only worth the company standing behind it. LiberNovo has been shipping retail since October 2025. Nobody; including us; can tell you what it looks like in 2031.
Set against that: the 2026 SE and Pro fixed specific, named complaints from the first generation. Armrest travel went from 80mm to 96mm, with a 20mm lower minimum height. Headrest travel increased by 40mm. Five recline positions instead of four. The seat front edge was reinforced. That's a company reading its own bad reviews and doing something about it within one product cycle. For a young brand, that's about the best behavioural signal available.
The electronics warranty is two years, not five.
The warranty splits: five years on the frame and mechanical components, two years on the electronics; battery, actuator, wiring.
Two years is the shortest number in the whole proposition, and it's on the part with moving electrical bits. Tom's Guide named the same worry from the other direction: "we really don't know how well these electronic components will hold up over time."
Nobody does. It's a new product. If that bothers you, the honest answer is to buy the Omni SE; the manual version, no motor, no battery, no actuator, and nothing to fail electrically. Because it has no electronics, the two-year term does not apply to it at all. It's also the cheapest chair in the range. We'd rather sell you the right one.
The service track record is thin, and email-only.
The friction people report with LiberNovo isn't about chairs falling apart. It's about service and refunds. Support is email-only, responses can be slow, and the team is in another timezone.
If you buy direct and something goes wrong, that inbox is your entire relationship with the company. That's the actual thing people are anxious about when they type "is LiberNovo a scam" into Google. They're not really asking whether the chair exists. They're asking who picks up the phone.
About those "scam checker" sites.
Search "is LiberNovo legit" and you'll get a wall of near-identical pages with trust scores, safety percentages and phrases like "we have analysed this website".
Those sites are automated. They generate a page for essentially any domain, and the "score" is derived from things like domain registration age, SSL certificate details, WHOIS privacy settings and traffic estimates. Not one of them has sat in the chair. Not one of them has read the BIFMA report. They rank because they publish at scale against low-competition queries, not because they know anything.
A young domain with privacy-protected WHOIS will score badly on those sites whether it's a fraud or a legitimate hardware startup. The output is noise dressed as a verdict. Ignore it, and read the reviewers who actually sat in the thing.
How to buy safely in Australia.
Most Australian buyers end up purchasing through an Australian retailer rather than shipping direct from LiberNovo. Which means the practical question isn't "do I trust a Hong Kong company"; it's "who is my supplier, and what do they owe me".
Australian Consumer Law does the heavy lifting.
This is the part most buyers don't know, and it matters more than any warranty document.
Under Australian Consumer Law, goods sold in Australia come with statutory consumer guarantees; including acceptable quality and reasonable durability. Those guarantees sit on top of any manufacturer's warranty. They cannot be excluded, restricted or shortened by it. And critically, they run against the supplier who sold you the goods.
So when the manufacturer's electronics warranty says two years, that number does not cap your rights. If a $1,999 motorised chair's actuator dies at month 30, the question under the ACL is what a reasonable consumer would expect for that price and product; not what the warranty card says. And you take that question to the Australian business that sold it to you, not to an inbox in another timezone.
Import the chair yourself and you give that up. Buy it from an Australian supplier and it comes with the goods. That is, genuinely, the strongest argument for buying locally, and it has nothing to do with us. It is also general information, not legal advice; if you have a live dispute, talk to your state or territory consumer affairs body.
Where we stand, and what we get out of it.
We're a Sydney business, founded in 2014 by Nic, with a showroom at 1/209 Harris Street, Pyrmont, open by appointment. We stock and sell LiberNovo chairs. We make money if you buy one. Read the rest with that in mind.
What we can tell you that a scam-checker can't: Nic used an Omni daily, in-house, for 30 days in August 2026. The build held up and nothing worked loose. The full write-up, including the bits we didn't love, is here: our 30-day LiberNovo Omni review.
Our prices, including GST, as at 20 August 2026:
| Model | Price |
|---|---|
| Omni SE (manual) | $1,299, footrest included |
| Omni (motorised) | $1,359 chair-only, or $1,459 with footrest |
| Omni Pro (motorised + seat fan) | $1,999, footrest included |
Stock ships from our Sydney warehouse with dispatch in 2–5 business days. Full range at our LiberNovo collection.
And the things we don't offer, stated plainly so you don't find out later: there is no trial period. Returns are 30 days, unused and unopened only; once it's unpacked or assembled, it's not returnable. That's a stricter returns policy than some people expect, and we'd rather you knew before you ordered than after.
If you're not sure which model suits you, get in touch or ring 02 9640 0642. We'd rather talk you into the right chair than out of a refund.
Frequently asked questions
Is LiberNovo a scam?
No. It's a Hong Kong hardware company that raised HK$79,966,705, roughly US$10.27 million, from 11,620 Kickstarter backers, began retail shipping on 21 October 2025, holds BIFMA X5.1, UL962, FCC and RoHS certification, and has been reviewed hands-on by seven independent publications. There are no recalls or safety notices against any of its chairs.
Did LiberNovo actually deliver its Kickstarter?
Yes, though not smoothly in Australia. Deliveries here ran late through October and November 2025 because of port congestion and typhoons. LiberNovo acknowledged the delays publicly and apologised for "fulfillment mismatches". More than 1,100 items shipped to Australia in one batch, with more at the end of December.
Why do scam-checker sites give LiberNovo a low trust score?
Because they're automated. They score domains on registration age, SSL details, WHOIS privacy and traffic estimates, and they generate a page for almost any domain. A young company with a privacy-protected domain scores poorly regardless of whether it's legitimate. None of those sites has tested the product.
What is the LiberNovo warranty?
Five years on the frame and mechanical components, two years on the electronics; battery, actuator and wiring. The Omni SE has no electronics, so the two-year term does not apply to it. The Maxis big-and-tall model carries a six-year frame warranty. In Australia, statutory consumer guarantees apply on top of that and can't be shortened by it.
Is the two-year electronics warranty a red flag?
It's the weakest number in the range, and Tom's Guide raised the same concern from the review side: "we really don't know how well these electronic components will hold up over time." If it bothers you, buy the manual Omni SE. No motor, no battery, no actuator, nothing to fail electrically; and it's the cheapest chair in the lineup.
What did reviewers actually say about the LiberNovo Omni?
Opinions split sharply. Notebookcheck gave it 4/10, criticising price, plastic content and loose armrests. Tom's Hardware called the motor "gimmicky at best and a liability at worst". TechRadar gave 4/5 Recommended, Stuff 5/5, and both Tom's Guide and Android Authority awarded Editor's Choice. Weight the critical reviews carefully; some outlets also run LiberNovo-sponsored content alongside editorial.
Can I buy LiberNovo directly from overseas in Australia?
Most Australian buyers purchase from an Australian retailer rather than shipping direct. Buying from an Australian stockist also means your Australian Consumer Law rights run against a business you can reach by phone, which is the practical difference when something goes wrong.
How long does delivery take from Chair Dinkum?
We hold stock in our Sydney warehouse and dispatch in 2–5 business days. Delivery costs are calculated at checkout, there is no trial period, and returns are 30 days on unused, unopened items only.
