Ran out of cash
Ran out of cash: 105 startups that closed for this reason, with their stories and lessons.
105 startups
80 Acres Farms
Ohio's USD 1 billion vertical farming company closed in 2026 when a rescue sale collapsed overnight
Closed2015 – 2026Ascend Elements
It turned spent batteries into new cathode material until grants, demand and prices all moved against it
Closed2009 – 2026Getaround
A car-sharing pioneer that sank on listing and in 2026 liquidated with nothing left for shareholders
In bankruptcy1995 – 2026Getty Images
One of the world's largest visual archives: founded in London in 1995, delisted and in bankruptcy protection i
Closed2023 – 2026IO Interactive Türkiye
The Istanbul studio Hitman maker IO Interactive opened to develop AAA games
Closed2012 – 2026Luminar Technologies
Lidar company of a 17-year-old founder: USD 11 billion in 2021, technology sold for USD 33 million in 2026
Closed2014 – 2026Vicarious Surgical
A surgical robot steered through virtual reality: valued at USD 1.1 billion, it never won FDA clearance
Closed2023 – 2026YoLa Fresh
A fresh-produce platform linking Moroccan smallholder farmers directly to shops: founded in 2023, closed withi
Closed2014 – 2025Ample
Robot stations that swapped EV batteries for fleets: Chapter 11 after USD 330 million raised
Closed2012 – 2025Benson Hill
It set out to rewrite soybean genetics with data, bought and sold plants, and left its stock worthless
Closed2018 – 2025Bitay
A crypto exchange born as an R&D project at Yıldız Teknopark that issued its own token
Closed2016 – 2025Builder.ai
The start-up that promised to make commissioning an app with SI as easy as ordering a pizza
Closed2017 – 2025Canoo
The start-up building pod-shaped electric vans and delivery vehicles for commercial fleets
Closed2015 – 2025CloudMinds
Tried to move robot brains to the cloud: raised RMB 5.4 billion, entered liquidation in 2025
Closed2004 – 2025Danimer Scientific
Danimer made biodegradable plastic from bacteria: from a USD 4.9 billion stock boom to a USD 19 million sale
Closed2015 – 2025Desktop Metal
It set out to bring metal 3D printing to factories, and fell from USD 5 billion to a USD 7 million asset sale
Closed2016 – 2025Li-Cycle
Battery recycling's rising star ran out of cash at the Rochester plant it could never finish
Closed2015 – 2025Lilium
The German company behind the Lilium Jet, an electric air taxi capable of vertical take-off
In bankruptcy2014 – 2025Neta Auto (Hozon New Energy)
China's budget EV brand stalled in the price war and now waits in bankruptcy for a new investor
Closed2020 – 2025Pandion
The e-commerce parcel delivery network built by the founder of Amazon Air
Closed2012 – 2025Sunnova Energy
A Houston company that financed rooftop solar: Chapter 11 with USD 8.9 billion of debt
Closed2010 – 2025WeMakePrice
One of Korea's big three deal sites, sent into liquidation when it could not pay its sellers
Closed2013 – 2025Zongmu Technology
Zongmu sold driver-assistance systems to Chinese carmakers: three failed listings, then a bankruptcy case
Closed2012 – 2024Bench Accounting
Subscription bookkeeping for small businesses, combining software with human bookkeepers
In bankruptcy2011 – 2024Byju's
It began with one teacher's classes, reached USD 22 billion and has been in Indian insolvency since 2024
Closed2017 – 2024Ghost Autonomy
An OpenAI-backed start-up developing autonomous driving software for carmakers
Closed2014 – 2024Karhoo
The London taxi app that set out to rival Uber and went into administration twice
Closed2019 – 2024Koo
The microblogging app born in India as a home-grown alternative to Twitter
Closed2012 – 2024Royole Corporation
The Chinese display maker that sold a foldable phone before Samsung was ordered into liquidation in 2024
Closed2014 – 2024Selina Hospitality
Hostels and co-working for digital nomads: from USD 1.2 billion to a 99% loss
Closed2007 – 2024Shapeways
The marketplace that opened 3D printing to everyone lasted three years on the stock market
Closed2015 – 2024Tally
The fintech valued at $855 million that managed credit card debt automatically
Closed2019 – 202354gene
A Nigerian start-up that set out to open up Africans' genomic data to drug research
Closed2017 – 2023AppHarvest
A company that grew soil-free crops in giant greenhouses in Kentucky's coal country
Closed2013 – 2023Boxed
The online retailer that delivered bulk-size goods to the door without a membership fee
Closed2019 – 2023Britishvolt
The start-up that set out to build an electric-vehicle battery gigafactory in the north of England
Closed2018 – 2023Lordstown Motors
The company that tried to build the Endurance electric pickup in GM's former Ohio plant
Closed2009 – 2023VanMoof
The Dutch brand that sold its own smart electric bikes direct to customers
Closed2008 – 2023Veev
A housing start-up that built walls in a factory: half of its USD 400 million round never arrived
Closed2017 – 2023Virgin Orbit
Launched rockets from under a Boeing 747's wing: from USD 3.7 billion to a USD 36 million auction
Closed2019 – 2022Airlift
A Pakistani start-up that went from a shuttle bus app to 30-minute grocery delivery
Closed2020 – 2022Electric Last Mile Solutions
Liquidated a year after listing: the USD 1.4 billion electric delivery van start-up
Closed2019 – 2022Fast
The Stripe-backed fintech that wanted to bring one-click checkout to every e-commerce site
Closed2010 – 2022Made.com
The British online furniture brand fell from GBP 775 million to a GBP 3.4 million sale in 17 months
Closed2020 – 2022Nimo TV Türkiye
The live-streaming platform through which China's Huya gathered mobile gaming streamers in Turkey
Closed2010 – 2022Pharmapacks (Packable)
One of Amazon's biggest sellers went into wind-down in 2022 after its SPAC merger fell through
Closed2016 – 2021Byton
The Chinese-German electric car brand that never reached series production
Closed2016 – 2021Element AI
The Montreal super intelligence company co-founded by Yoshua Bengio
Closed2015 – 2021Katerra
A construction technology company that built walls in a factory and assembled them on site
Closed2015 – 2020Honestbee
The Singaporean platform that delivered groceries through personal shoppers
Closed2014 – 2020ofo
The Chinese dockless bike-sharing company whose yellow bikes spread to 20 countries
Closed2018 – 2020OtoParlat
A mobile car-wash service that cleaned vehicles where they were parked, without using water
Closed2010 – 2019Anki
The robotics start-up that made SI-powered toy robots and racing cars
Closed2014 – 2019Coolest Cooler
The record-breaking Kickstarter cool box with a built-in blender and speaker
Closed2010 – 2019DAQRI
The company building augmented reality helmets and glasses for industrial workers
Closed2009 – 2019MapR Technologies
The enterprise data platform of the Hadoop era raised USD 280 million and ended in a 2019 asset sale to HPE
Closed2012 – 2019Tink Labs
A start-up that put smartphones in hotel rooms and collapsed within weeks of a billion-dollar valuation
Closed2011 – 2019Utrip
A Seattle travel-planning start-up whose acquisition deal collapsed three days before signing
Closed2006 – 2018BuldumBuldum.com
An e-commerce site selling personalised products and quirky gifts
Closed2008 – 2018Rethink Robotics
The Boston pioneer of collaborative robots that work side by side with people
Closed2013 – 2017Beepi
The marketplace that took used-car buying and selling out of the dealership and to the door
Closed2013 – 2017Doppler Labs
The maker of Here One, the smart wireless earbuds that filtered the sounds around you
Closed2013 – 2017Lily Robotics
An autonomous camera drone that you threw into the air and that then followed and filmed you on its own
Closed2009 – 2017Ve Interactive
British tech firm that won back abandoned baskets: from GBP 1.5 billion to administration
Closed2012 – 2016EVT Motor (EVT S1)
The home-grown, 100 per cent electric sports car start-up developed at Hacettepe Teknokent
Closed2012 – 2016incir.com
The platform that let anyone open a virtual shop in a few clicks and sell on commission without holding stock
Closed2011 – 2016Kitchit
A San Francisco start-up that sent a chef to your home and brought the restaurant experience to your kitchen
Closed2012 – 2016Kliksa
Sabancı Holding's e-commerce site selling everything from technology to personal care
Closed2012 – 2016Pebble
The e-paper smartwatch start-up that broke Kickstarter records
Closed2006 – 2016Rafter
The edtech start-up that raised $86 million promising to fold textbooks into tuition fees
Closed2014 – 2016Shuddle
The Uber-style service for ferrying children to school and activities that could not find new funding
Closed2013 – 2016Take Eat Easy
The Belgian food delivery start-up that closed after 114 funds said no and its last offer collapsed
Closed2014 – 2015Alikolo
The Indonesian e-commerce marketplace founded without knowing Tokopedia existed
Closed2014 – 2015Dazo
The Bengaluru mobile start-up delivering food from daily changing menus
Closed2010 – 2015Evim.net
A vertical e-commerce site for home decor that raised $5 million
Closed2011 – 2015LayerVault
The New York start-up that offered version control for designers and gave birth to Designer News
Closed2010 – 201499dresses
The infinite-wardrobe start-up that gave women a virtual currency for swapping clothes
Closed2004 – 2014Céidot Oyun Stüdyoları
The pioneering Ankara game studio behind Hükümran Senfoni and Umaykut
Closed2011 – 2013Admazely
The start-up that offered small online shops easy-to-install retargeting ads
Closed2011 – 2013Everpix
The much-loved photo service that gathered all your photos in the cloud and picked out the best
Closed2009 – 2013Formspring
The social network that started the anonymous Q&A craze and reached 30 million users
Closed2012 – 2013Gurunzi
The curated shopping site selling, at a discount, products that celebrities had tried and recommended
Closed2009 – 2013Totsy
The flash-sale site for mothers that went into liquidation a year after raising $23.5 million
Closed2010 – 2013VIPDükkan
One of Turkey's first flash-sale sites, a branded-goods discount club that grew on TV advertising
Closed2011 – 2013Wantful
A personalised gift recommendation start-up that shut down abruptly when Nordstrom's investment failed to arri
Closed2010 – 2012Vimjo
A Turkish e-commerce site that set out to bring personal care and health products together in one place
Closed1998 – 2008Estore
One of Turkey's first general online shopping sites, an e-store that also sold on television
Closed2007 – 2008Tio
The shopping guide that compared prices and let you buy from different shops with a single account
Closed2000 – 2008Weblebi.com
One of Turkey's first generation of general online shopping sites
Closed1998 – 2000Boo.com
A European start-up that tried to sell branded sports and fashion clothing online with a 3D experience
Closed2016 – 2025Air Belgium
Belgian airline
Closed1991 – 2025MRP Matila Röhr Productions
Finnish film production company
Closed2017 – 2024Whim
Finnish mobility as a service app
Closed2004 – 2022Masten Space Systems
American aerospace company
Closed2005 – 2020Compass DKD Czech
Czech company
Closed2000 – 2019AlphaDream
Japanese video game developer
Closed1991 – 2018Aspect
Video game developer
Closed2004 – 2018Robowatch
Mobile security robot company from Berlin, Germany
Closed2009 – 2013Dicame
Finnish company
Closed1999 – 2011Monsterland
Gaming
Closed2007 – 2009GSM Suomi
Telecoms
Closed1996 – 2004GT Group Telecom Inc.
Canadian competitive local exchange carrier
Closed1991 – 2004O2 Interactive Media AB
Video game company
Closed1997 – 2004Vioma Digital Entertainment
Gaming
Closed1994 – 2003Korkeken Interactive Studio
Swedish video game developing company
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This section is compiled from public sources (Wikidata, news archives and company announcements). Figures are given as they appear in those sources; unknown fields are left blank. If you spot a mistake in an entry, you can send us a correction.