While Quirky managed to charm customers and investors alike with its unique community-focused gadget production concept, it appears the interest in Quirky has run thin.
In a blog post, Quirky announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York. The statement outlined Quirky’s plans to sell off most of its remaining assets, including Wink, the Quirky spinoff specializing in smart home technology and devices connectable to the ever-popular Internet of Things. In fact, Quirky had already secured $15 million for elements of Wink at the time of the bankruptcy announcement, though the sale would continue for about two months.
“The sale will be subject to higher or otherwise better offers,” the blog post explained. “[Quirky] will look to conduct an auction, if other bids are received, and will be seeking court approval to have the sale close within approximately 60 days.”
Founded back in 2009 as a unique startup that allowed the general public to show off and raise money for their consumer-facing inventions, Quirky quickly ran into financial trouble after accumulating about $170 million in venture capital funding, The Wall Street Journal reported. Earlier this year, Quirky removed Ben Kaufman from the CEO post, a move many now see as a necessary business process ahead of the selling off of Wink, one of Quirky’s few long-term successes.
The bankruptcy announcement assured consumers who already own Wink’s in-home devices like Internet-ready lightbulbs and locks that the items would continue to work following Quirky’s dissolution. In fact, news of Quirky’s financial woes isn’t exactly shocking to experts, as The Verge explained in April that the company had run into serious management problems that burned up a large portion of its capital. When several funding due dates and bills for acquisitions started to come due — namely, a $19.9 million revolver and $8 million in deferred payments — Quirky made the decision to fold.
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