Star of CES 2016, Flying Lily Camera Dies: Customers to be Refunded
- by Emilio Sims
- in Money
- — Jan 13, 2017
"We have been racing against a clock of ever-diminishing funds", wrote the company's cofounders Henry Bradlow and Antoine Balaresque.
The three-year-old company sent an email to its customers Thursday, saying it failed to secure the money needed to manufacture and ship its highly anticipated product.
Lily Robotics, the makers of an autonomous flying camera that launched with great fanfare and garnered $34 million in pre-orders, is dead.
The company was reportedly seeking an additional $ 15 million to stay afloat.
They have not been able to raise additional funding and as a result of this, have made a decision to wind down the company and offer refunds to customers. Part of this timeline was shared by the company, with the latest schedule showing the drone ready to enter mass production in mid-November 2016 and the first devices being delivered a few weeks ago in mid-December 2016. 3D Robotics, the country's most well-funded drone startup, had to change its focus toward enterprise applications after it was unable to hit sales targets for its expensive-to-produce drone, Solo. A lithium-ion battery promised 20 minutes of flight time on a two-hour charge; the drone also has an IP67 waterproof rating. Unfortunately the dream is no more, as last night the company announced they would be shutting their doors, regardless of the $34 million they raised through crowdfunding and $14 million series A round.
Bradlow and Balaresque did not immediately return an emailed request for comment. Initially expected to ship in February 2016, that was subsequently pushed back to the summer of 2016 instead.
"Our community was the drive that kept us going even as circumstances became more and more hard", the blog said.
Customers should receive refunds over the next 60 days, though if the card used to preorder the drone is now expired, they'll need to fill out a form.
Investors in Lily included Dorm Room Fund, Sherpa Capital, Slow Ventures, Spark Capital, StartX, SV Angel, Upside Partnership, The House Fund, The InnoSpring Seed Fund, and other angel investors.
