Former unicorns
97 companies once valued at USD 1 billion or more that shut down. Their combined peak value: $401.4 billion.
97 startups
Excite@Home
The cable broadband provider that merged with the Excite web portal
Closed2019 – 2022FTX
The crypto exchange that reached a $32 billion valuation and collapsed within days
Closed2013 – 2024Cruise
General Motors' autonomous vehicle company that tried to build a driverless taxi service
In bankruptcy2011 – 2024Byju's
It began with one teacher's classes, reached USD 22 billion and has been in Indian insolvency since 2024
Closed2015 – 2024Arrival
A British company that aimed to build electric delivery vans and buses in microfactories
Closed2014 – 2025Nikola
The listed company that promised hydrogen and battery-electric heavy lorries
Closed2015 – 2025Northvolt
The Swedish manufacturer that aimed to become Europe's electric-vehicle battery giant
Closed2012 – 2026Luminar Technologies
Lidar company of a 17-year-old founder: USD 11 billion in 2021, technology sold for USD 33 million in 2026
Closed2003 – 2018Theranos
The USD 9 billion health start-up that promised hundreds of tests from a single drop of blood
Closed2014 – 2023SmileDirectClub
It posted clear aligners to your door, fell 28 per cent on listing day and shut down four years later
Closed2003 – 2025Skype
The app that made free voice and video calls over the internet mainstream
Closed1997 – 2001eToys
The online toy retailer that became an emblem of the dotcom bubble
Closed2016 – 2022Argo AI
A Ford- and Volkswagen-backed company developing software and hardware for driverless cars
Closed2018 – 2024Cazoo
The Zoopla founder's online used-car retailer fell from USD 7 billion to administration in three years
Closed2010 – 2024Invitae
Company in San Francisco, United States
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
Closed2012 – 2024Royole Corporation
The Chinese display maker that sold a foldable phone before Samsung was ordered into liquidation in 2024
Closed2016 – 2023Embark Trucks
A start-up that built self-driving software for long-haul lorries and went public via a SPAC
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
Closed2004 – 2025Danimer Scientific
Danimer made biodegradable plastic from bacteria: from a USD 4.9 billion stock boom to a USD 19 million sale
Closed1996 – 2001Webvan
The dotcom giant that delivered grocery orders to the door within a 30-minute window
Closed2012 – 2025Sunnova Energy
A Houston company that financed rooftop solar: Chapter 11 with USD 8.9 billion of debt
Closed2013 – 2023Babylon Health
The health company offering an SI-powered chatbot and video consultations with doctors
Closed2012 – 2023Olive AI
Set out to automate the hospital back office: from USD 4 billion to a piecemeal sale
Closed2015 – 2021Katerra
A construction technology company that built walls in a factory and assembled them on site
Closed2017 – 2023Virgin Orbit
Launched rockets from under a Boeing 747's wing: from USD 3.7 billion to a USD 36 million auction
Closed1994 – 2009GeoCities
The free personal web page host organised into virtual neighbourhoods
Closed2016 – 2026Rec Room
Social gaming platform with 150 million players: USD 3.5 billion peak, closed without a profitable model
Closed2011 – 2021Greensill Capital
The supply chain finance firm that grew at breakneck speed and collapsed in 2021
Closed2015 – 2025CloudMinds
Tried to move robot brains to the cloud: raised RMB 5.4 billion, entered liquidation in 2025
In bankruptcy2022 – 2026Movement Labs
The company that set out to bring Move to Ethereum entered small-business bankruptcy in 2026
Closed2013 – 2023Zymergen
The company that set out to make materials from microorganisms using genomics and machine learning
Closed2017 – 2022BlockFi
A $3 billion company offering lending products backed by crypto assets
Closed2017 – 2022Celsius Network
A crypto lending platform that promised depositors returns of up to 17 per cent
Closed2018 – 2022Voyager Digital
The crypto broker offering trading and loyalty rewards that lent out its assets
Closed1999 – 2017Jawbone
The USD 3 billion hardware company behind headsets, speakers and fitness trackers
Closed2016 – 2024Fisker Inc.
The car start-up behind designer Henrik Fisker's electric SUV, the Ocean
Closed2015 – 2023Convoy
A digital freight broker that used software to match shippers with truckers
Closed2009 – 2023Zulily
The e-commerce site offering mothers daily flash sales on children's products
Closed2014 – 2023Singulato
An early Chinese EV start-up: RMB 17 billion claimed, and not a single car sold
Closed2017 – 2025Canoo
The start-up building pod-shaped electric vans and delivery vehicles for commercial fleets
Closed2015 – 2025Lilium
The German company behind the Lilium Jet, an electric air taxi capable of vertical take-off
Closed2015 – 2024Bowery Farming
A vertical farming start-up that grew greens in warehouses without pesticides
Closed2010 – 2024Cue Health
A home molecular COVID test took it public at USD 2.3 billion; when demand ended it liquidated in 2024
Closed2015 – 2023Zume
The start-up that went from robot-made pizza baked in the delivery van to packaging
Closed2007 – 2013Better Place
The ambitious mobility start-up that built battery-swap stations for electric cars
Closed2020 – 2024Gorillas
The start-up delivering groceries ultra-fast by bicycle courier from dark stores
Closed2010 – 2025WeMakePrice
One of Korea's big three deal sites, sent into liquidation when it could not pay its sellers
Closed2014 – 2025Sonder
The hospitality company that leased flats and ran them like hotels through an app
Closed2014 – 2020ofo
The Chinese dockless bike-sharing company whose yellow bikes spread to 20 countries
Closed2011 – 2024InVision
The prototyping tool of design teams: fell behind Figma, from USD 1.9 billion to closure
Closed2009 – 2017Ve Interactive
British tech firm that won back abandoned baskets: from GBP 1.5 billion to administration
Closed2007 – 2024OneSmart International Education
China's premium tutoring chain shut its doors almost overnight after the 2021 crackdown
Closed2009 – 2015OnLive
An early cloud gaming service that ran games on servers and streamed them as video
Closed2018 – 2020Quibi
The streaming service that raised $1.75 billion for short shows made to be watched on a phone
Closed2016 – 2025Li-Cycle
Battery recycling's rising star ran out of cash at the Rochester plant it could never finish
Closed2018 – 2023Lordstown Motors
The company that tried to build the Endurance electric pickup in GM's former Ohio plant
Closed2013 – 2023Pear Therapeutics
The FDA-authorised digital health pioneer developing prescription software therapies
Closed2004 – 2023Proterra
The US company making electric city buses, battery systems and charging infrastructure
Closed2016 – 2021Knotel
The $1.6 billion WeWork rival that built flexible, dedicated headquarters for companies
Closed2015 – 2026Ascend Elements
It turned spent batteries into new cathode material until grants, demand and prices all moved against it
Closed2001 – 2020Proteus Digital Health
A digital medicine company valued at USD 1.5 billion that put ingestible sensors into pills
Closed2013 – 2025Zongmu Technology
Zongmu sold driver-assistance systems to Chinese carmakers: three failed listings, then a bankruptcy case
Closed2013 – 2025eFishery
The Indonesian fish-feeder start-up that hit USD 1.4 billion and collapsed on fabricated numbers
Closed2020 – 2022Electric Last Mile Solutions
Liquidated a year after listing: the USD 1.4 billion electric delivery van start-up
Closed2012 – 2025Benson Hill
It set out to rewrite soybean genetics with data, bought and sold plants, and left its stock worthless
Closed2014 – 2020Jet.com
The online retailer that took on Amazon on price, then was bought and shut down by Walmart
Closed2015 – 2025Good Glamm Group
India's beauty and content group: 11 acquisitions made it a unicorn, and lenders broke it up in 2025
Closed2009 – 2026Getaround
A car-sharing pioneer that sank on listing and in 2026 liquidated with nothing left for shareholders
Closed2014 – 2024Selina Hospitality
Hostels and co-working for digital nomads: from USD 1.2 billion to a 99% loss
Closed? – 2023Multichain
A crypto bridge moving billions stopped in 2023 because one man held the keys
Closed2014 – 2022Enjoy Technology
The architect of the Apple Store took retail to the doorstep; the company lasted under a year as a listed firm
Closed2016 – 2022Fair
SoftBank's car subscription bet burned through over USD 2 billion of financing and ended in 2022
Closed2016 – 2021Byton
The Chinese-German electric car brand that never reached series production
Closed2015 – 2020Essential Products
The hardware start-up from Android co-founder Andy Rubin that only ever shipped one phone
Closed2018 – 2023IRL
An events and messaging network for young people whose users turned out to be 95 per cent bots
Closed2014 – 2026Vicarious Surgical
A surgical robot steered through virtual reality: valued at USD 1.1 billion, it never won FDA clearance
Closed2010 – 2022Pharmapacks (Packable)
One of Amazon's biggest sellers went into wind-down in 2022 after its SPAC merger fell through
Closed2010 – 2022Made.com
The British online furniture brand fell from GBP 775 million to a GBP 3.4 million sale in 17 months
Closed2019 – 2025Flip
A video shopping app that paid users to post shut down without warning 16 months after a billion-dollar round
Closed2015 – 202680 Acres Farms
Ohio's USD 1 billion vertical farming company closed in 2026 when a rescue sale collapsed overnight
In bankruptcy2021 – 2026Character.AI
A platform for chatting with characters: a Google licence in 2024, a bankruptcy protection filing in 2026
Closed2014 – 2025Ample
Robot stations that swapped EV batteries for fleets: Chapter 11 after USD 330 million raised
Closed2016 – 2025Builder.ai
The start-up that promised to make commissioning an app with SI as easy as ordering a pizza
Closed2016 – 2024Forward
A subscription clinic from an ex-Google executive bet on health pods and closed overnight in November 2024
Closed2018 – 2024Terraform Labs
The company behind the Terra blockchain, which created the algorithmic stablecoin UST and LUNA
Closed2017 – 2023AppHarvest
A company that grew soil-free crops in giant greenhouses in Kentucky's coal country
Closed2019 – 2023Britishvolt
The start-up that set out to build an electric-vehicle battery gigafactory in the north of England
Closed2013 – 2023Infarm
The Berlin company that put farms inside supermarkets never turned a profit, despite USD 500 million
Closed2008 – 2023Veev
A housing start-up that built walls in a factory: half of its USD 400 million round never arrived
Closed2014 – 2019Aiwujiwu
It promised to wipe out estate agents, reached a billion dollars in 18 months and faded out quietly in 2019
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
Closed2007 – 2016Powa Technologies
The London company behind PowaTag, which promised one-tap shopping from adverts
Closed2010 – 2015Fab
The daily-deals design shop once valued at more than $1 billion
Closed2005 – 2011Solyndra
An energy start-up backed by a federal loan guarantee that made cylindrical thin-film solar panels
Closed1995 – 2002Broadcast.com
A pioneer of internet radio and live streaming, and Yahoo's most expensive acquisition
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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.