Overview

Product Description

Lily's flagship product, the Lily Camera, was a quadcopter drone designed to be used as a self-propelled camera. The device was marketed to be easy to use, waterproof, and containing 7 types of sensors: an accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, a magnetometer, a Barometer, GPS, a front-facing camera, and a bottom-facing camera.

Quick Stats

2009

Started in

Jan, 2017

Closed in

11-50

Employee (s)

$49,000,000

Total Raised

Why did Lily robotics fail?

Follow This Question - 1

Aaron Kazah

Updated on 22 Jul, 2017

No Financing or Investor Interest

Ran Out Of Cash

Legal Challenges

Although Lily Robotics has now been dubbed as the <a href="http://fortune.com/2017/01/17/lily-robotics-theranos-drone/">"Theranos of the Drone World"</a>, when Lily first announced the Lily Drone, the consumer world went wild. In a widely shared <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMfTHHLbj5g">video</a>, the company introduced an easy to use drone that would follow users after being thrown in the air. An astounding 60,000 people flocked to pre order the drone, netting Lily Robotics a massive <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/08/lily-a-camera-drone-that-automatically-follows-you-pulls-in-a-mountainous-34-million-in-pre-orders/">$34 million in pre sales by the end of 2015.</a>&nbsp;Lily seemed to be the next big thing, but recently they announced that they were shutting down and would be refunding all customers who pre-ordered a drone.The founder's admitted in a blog post that Lily couldn't deliver the product due to running out of money. The devices were apparently ready, however due to high R&amp;D costs, the company's bank account was wiped clean. Most companies at this point (or before it) would try to raise some more funding to keep their business afloat, however in Lily's announcement on Jan 12th, 2017 they stated "Over the past few months, we have tried to secure financing in order to unlock our manufacturing line and ship our first units – but have been unable to do this.” In addition to Lily's financial woes,
 the company also faced serious legal troubles as its San Francisco offices were raided on fraud charges. Leaked emails revealed that the Lily Drone's promo video actually used GoPro footage (instead of actual Lily Drone footage) in order to mislead consumers.Lily CEO Antoine Balaresque was also revealed to be complicit in the company's deceit. “I am worried that a lens geek could study our images up close and detect the unique Gopro lens footprint," Balaresque wrote in an email to the filmmaker hired to make the Lily promo film. "But I am just speculating here: I don't know much about lenses but I think we should be extremely careful if we decide to lie publicly.Sources<a href="https://uavcoach.com/lily-robotics-closes-amid-rumors-of-fraud-despite-34-million-deposits/">1. https://uavcoach.com/lily-robotics-closes-amid-rumors-of-fraud-despite-34-million-deposits/</a><a href="http://us.blastingnews.com/tech/2017/01/lily-robotics-startup-closes-after-failing-to-raise-funding-for-drone-001391381.html"></a><a href="http://us.blastingnews.com/tech/2017/01/lily-robotics-startup-closes-after-failing-to-raise-funding-for-drone-001391381.html">2.&nbsp;http://us.blastingnews.com/tech/2017/01/lily-robotics-startup-closes-after-failing-to-raise-funding-for-drone-001391381.html</a><a href="http://us.blastingnews.com/tech/2017/01/lily-robotics-startup-closes-after-failing-to-raise-funding-for-drone-001391381.html"></a><a href="https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/12/lily-drone-is-dead-despite-34-million-in-pre-orders/">3. https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/12/lily-drone-is-dead-despite-34-million-in-pre-orders/</a>

0 Upvotes

Investors - 16

Funding Rounds - 3

Rewards Based Crowdfunding - $34,000,000

Seed - $1,000,000

Series A - $14,000,000

Founders

Henry Bradlow

Antoine Balaresque

Share This Startup

Top Contributors

Aaron Kazah

Evan Lee

Lily Robotics

2009

Started in

Jan, 2017

Closed in

11-50

Employee (s)

$49,000,000

Total Raised

Why did Lily robotics fail?

Aaron Kazah

Updated on 22 Jul, 2017

Dorm Room Fund

InnoSpring Seed Fund

Kevin Mahaffey

Liquid2 Ventures

Seven Seas Partners

Shana Fisher

Sherpa Capital

SkyDeck | Berkeley

Slow Ventures

Spark Capital

StartX

Steve Jang

SV Angel

The House Fund

Upside Partnership

Winklevoss Capital

Rewards Based Crowdfunding - $34,000,000

Pre-order Crowdfunding

Seed - $1,000,000

Dorm Room Fund

InnoSpring Seed Fund

Kevin Mahaffey

SV Angel

Shana Fisher

Slow Ventures

Upside Partnership

Winklevoss Capital

Series A - $14,000,000

Dorm Room Fund

InnoSpring Seed Fund

Kevin Mahaffey

Liquid2 Ventures

SV Angel

Seven Seas Partners

Sherpa Capital

Slow Ventures

StartX

Steve Jang

The House Fund

Upside Partnership

Winklevoss Capital