“It is true that the original business model is no longer
unique. KupiVIP is a business innovation introduced in Russia: discounts have
gradually become the norm both online and offline, ”David Warokier of Mangrove
Capital Partners previously told East-West Digital News.
“KupiVIP has tried to go omnichannel with its websites,
mobile applications and physical retail stores. All of this required
significant capital, given the size of the Russian market, ”added Varokier.
"Although the international context was less favorable,
not all local actors were able or willing to invest in the company."
via The Moscow Times
Caterra
Company: Katerra
Selected Venture Investors: SoftBank Group, Greenoaks
Capital Management, Foxconn Technology Company, Khosla Ventures
Total funding disclosed
“Katerra's slide was the most visible setback for SoftBank
since the failure of WeWork's IPO in 2019. The firm has primarily seen growth
in its Vision Fund portfolio last year amid a further rally in technology
stocks. , although some of those gains have declined in recent months.
In an interview with Barron's last month, CEO Masayoshi Son
said that Katerra, as well as SoftBank's investment in Greensill,
"regrets" themselves. Katerra's other sponsors were Khosla Ventures,
DFJ Growth, Greenoaks Capital and Celesta Capital. "
via TechCrunch
Quibi
Company: Quibi
Selected VCs: Goldman Sachs, NBC Universal, JPMorgan
Chase
Total funding disclosed:
Quibi Holdings LLC is shutting down just six months after
launching its streaming service, resulting in the crash landing of a once
highly publicized startup that has attracted some of Hollywood's biggest names
and sought to revolutionize the way in which people consume entertainment. […]
"Our failure was not due to a lack of trying,"
founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman said in an open letter to
employees and investors. "We have considered and exhausted all available
options."
via Wall Street Journal
Loon
Company: Loon
Select Venture Investors: HAPSMobile
Total funding disclosed:
Google's dream of providing global internet access with a
fleet of balloons floating on the edge of space came true Thursday when parent
company Alphabet announced that the nine-year project would be closed. […]
Astro Teller, Chapter X, said Thursday that "despite
the team's groundbreaking technical advancements over the past nine years, the
road to commercial viability has been much longer and riskier than
expected." X did not comment on why his view of Loon's business outlook
has changed in the past six months.
via Financial Times
Shinja
Company: Xinja
Selected Venture Investors: Equitise, World Investments
Total funding disclosed:.
“After a year marked by Covid-19 and an increasingly
challenging environment for raising capital, and after a market study in
Australia, Xinja decided to withdraw the bank account and the (savings) account
and stop being a bank. It was an incredibly difficult decision. We look forward
to reorienting the business into other areas, such as our US equity trading
product, Dabble, if circumstances permit. "
via Finextra
Main products
Company: Essential Products
Selected Venture Investors: Redpoint Ventures, Playground
Global, Tencent Holdings
Total funding disclosed.
Essential will be shutting down less than three years after
the startup introduced its first smartphone. The company's only finished
product, the Essential Phone, sold poorly and received mixed reviews. The later
phone was canceled and a host of other promised devices, such as the smart home
assistant and operating system, never came to fruition.
across the border
Scale
Company: ScaleFactor
Selected Venture Investors: Bessemer Venture Partners,
Canaan Partners, Coatue Management
Total funding disclosed:.
While the pandemic may have been the death sentence,
ScaleFactor had been on dry land long before, Forbes discovered. Tech startups
are often rewarded for the pretend-until-you-work mentality by venture capital
firms who are willing to spend money on a product until it meets expectations.
But ScaleFactor used aggressive sales tactics and prioritized finding capital
over creating software that ultimately didn't deliver on promises, according to
interviews with 15 former employees and executives. When the customers fled,
