# Lily Robotics (2013 – 2017)

- URL: https://girisimcikafasi.com/en/startup-graveyard/lily-robotics/
- Sector: Hardware
- Country: United States
- Total funding: $14 million
- Cause of closure: Ran out of cash

## What did it do?

Lily Robotics was developing an autonomous camera drone that, once thrown into the air, took photos and video by tracking a device on the user's wrist. Combining GPS with computer vision, the waterproof Lily Camera was unveiled in May 2015 at a pre-order price of $499. It was founded by two graduates who had worked together in a robotics lab at UC Berkeley.

## Why did it shut down?

The company collected around 60,000 pre-orders but could not take the product into mass production. Deliveries, first planned for February 2016, were pushed back to summer 2016 and then to early 2017. In the meantime rivals such as DJI brought out drones with similar follow features. In January 2017 the founders announced that they had been unable to find the financing to start the production line and decided to shut the company down and refund payments. The same day the San Francisco District Attorney's Office sued the company, alleging that it had deliberately misled customers, and the company filed for Chapter 11 in February 2017.

## The story

In a promotional video released in May 2015, a small drone was tossed into the air and then followed snowboarders and kayakers on its own, filming them. Lily Camera promised to be one of the first throw-and-shoot cameras, tracking a waterproof device worn on the user's wrist. The pre-order price was $499, and interest was huge.

The company was founded in Berkeley in 2013 by Antoine Balaresque and Henry Bradlow, who had worked together in the UC Berkeley Robotics Lab. A seed round led by Shana Fisher and SV Angel followed in spring 2014; by 2015 the team had grown to around 50 people. Lily Camera combined GPS and computer vision to keep the user in frame automatically. By January 2016 it had reached around 60,000 pre-orders and more than $34 million in pre-sales revenue. In December 2015 a $14 million Series A led by Spark Capital closed; Stanford's StartX fund, DJ Steve Aoki and former quarterback Joe Montana were also among the investors.

That same December the founders announced that deliveries, planned to begin in February 2016, had slipped to summer 2016. Then the date was pushed back once more, to early 2017. According to the BBC, manufacturers such as DJI, Zero Zero Robotics and Yuneec brought out drones with similar follow features in the meantime.

On 12 January 2017 customers received an email: the camera would not be produced, and payments would be refunded. In messages reported by the BBC, the founders wrote that they had been racing against time with ever-dwindling funds and had been unable to secure the financing to start the production line. The same day the San Francisco District Attorney's Office filed a lawsuit alleging that the company had deliberately misled customers; according to the complaint, the promotional video had used footage shot with other manufacturers' products. The company filed for Chapter 11 in Delaware on 27 February 2017 and sought court approval for the refunds. In May 2017 Mota Group bought Lily's assets and brand.

Lily's story is a reminder that pre-orders are proof of demand, but making hardware takes far more capital and time.

## Lessons

- Pre-orders prove demand but do not fund production; secure manufacturing finance and the supply chain before you launch mass pre-sales.
- Show only a genuinely working prototype in promotional videos; anything else puts both customer trust and your legal position at risk.
- In hardware, every delivery delay gives competitors time to fill the market; set a realistic timetable.

## Sources

- [Lily Robotics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_Robotics)
- [Drone company Lily shuts down owing $34m](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38595473)
- [Lily Robotics Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection](https://www.wsj.com/articles/lily-robotics-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy-protection-1488216444)