Lily Drone Latest News: Quadcopter Maker Goes Bankrupt; Will Refund $34 Million to 60,000 Customers
Van DLily Robotics recently announced that the Lily Drone will not produce the much-anticipated Lily Drone. After raking in $34 million worth of pre-orders, the company admitted that they spent have no funds left and cannot deliver the Lily Drone.
Engadget wrote that initially, the Lily Drone, an autonomous camera drone, gathered a lot of hype and successfully raised $34 million in pre-orders from 60,000 customers. However, Lily Robotics closed down after failing to secure the required financing for a full-scale production. The point-and-shoot quadcopter device featured a built-in camera and cost $1,000.
The Lily Drone was supposed to be ready for production after going through several tests. However, the extensive research and development costs exhausted all of the company's funds. Lily Robotics currently have no money left to continue production and no investments from other sources were coming. As a result, the Lily Drone will never reach excited customers. The first batch of Lily Drones were supposed to ship in February 2016, but the company kept postponing the release date.
In a blog post, Lily Robotics, which is based in San Francisco, explained that they failed to find more financing to produce the initial Lily Drone release. Co-founders Antoine Balaresque and Henry Bradlow stated that their funds were diminishing quickly and constantly. In the past few months, the company tried to secure financing to unlock their manufacturing line and ship the initial units, but failed. They plan to wind down the company and offer refunds to customers.
After the series of delays, several customers were asking for a refund, but Lily Robotics ignored their demands. After the Lily Drone maker announced that they are going out of business, prosecutors filed a civil suit and for a temporary restraining order. They demanded for the company to refund all those who pre-ordered the Lily Drone. The company was accused of false advertising for using a different drone and mode of operation than that presented to customers.
Lily Robotics has not yet commented on the pending legal claims, but the two parties are scheduled to meet in court on Jan. 18, 2017. More updates and details on the Lily Drone are expected soon.
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