This is not a new project, a few months ago it started to get some traction but unfortunately never recovered from the market crash that followed. One of the reasons was because the main dev had some family issues, but he is now back and working to get things back on the road. Also, this is not an ICO nor was it in the past, this is long development. The previous coins created could be seen as 'experimental' who have served as invaluable learning experiences. The upcoming soft fork will make the unique hybrid PoS/PoW working again, which is very innovative and useful for big corporations!

Check espers.io for more info!