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We just published this list of 39 startups that failed due to the fierce competition, along with analyses on why they shut down and interviews with their founders.
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Information about the industries, countries, and cities they generally invest in.
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Information about their valuation, HQ's location, founded year, name of founders, funding amount and number of employees.
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List of startup investors in the FinTech industry, along with their Twitter, LinkedIn, and email addresses.
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The Argyle Social was a social media marketing tool. The leading social media platforms change their APIs every time, which led to their shut down.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Adam Covati
Country:
United States
Industry:
Marketing
Started in:
2010
Closed in:
2014
Nº of employees:
10-50
Funding Amount:
$1M-$10M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Bitpass was a company that gave people a platform to make micropayments online. The main reason for its closure was competition, even after raising $12M.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Kurt Huang
Country:
United States
Industry:
Finances
Started in:
2002
Closed in:
2007
Nº of employees:
50-100
Funding Amount:
$10M-$50M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
ChaCha was a search engine where you interacted with a human being. However, the startup got stiff competition when Google released its Panda algorithm.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Brad Bostic & Scott Jones
Country:
United States
Industry:
Software & Hardware
Started in:
2005
Closed in:
2016
Nº of employees:
50-100
Funding Amount:
> $50M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Circa had the mission of ‘fixing’ what was wrong with journalism. They suffered a financial breakdown and were copied by giants in the news sector.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Arsenio Santos, Ben Huh, Matt Galligan
Country:
United States
Industry:
Entertainment
Started in:
2011
Closed in:
2015
Nº of employees:
10-50
Funding Amount:
$1M-$10M
Specific cause of failure:
Lack of Funds
You can read more about their failure here.
Dazo was a food-tech startup based in Bangalore which emerged as a “food on demand” company. Fierce competition and lack of funding led to Dazo's failure.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Monica Rastogi, Shashaank Shekhar Singhal
Country:
India
Industry:
Food & Beverage
Started in:
2015
Closed in:
2016
Nº of employees:
10-50
Funding Amount:
No Data
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Digg had the mission of "democratizing" the content and news that people saw. However, it missed lots of opportunities to become a thriving social network.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Kevin Rose
Country:
United States
Industry:
Social Media
Started in:
2004
Closed in:
Active
Nº of employees:
50-100
Funding Amount:
$10M-$50M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Fab was an e-commerce company focused on daily design inspiration. Its success resulted in companies launching their same exact replicas of Fab’s platform.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Bradford Shane Shellhammer, Deepa Shah, Jason Goldberg, Nishith Shah, Sunil Khedar
Country:
United States
Industry:
e-Commerce
Started in:
2009
Closed in:
2013
Nº of employees:
500-1,000
Funding Amount:
> $50M
Specific cause of failure:
Multiple Reasons
You can read more about their failure here.
Flud was a social news reader platform. They were unable to raise additional funding for their operations and eventually ran out of cash.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Bobby Ghoshal, Matthew Ausonio
Country:
United States
Industry:
Productivity
Started in:
2010
Closed in:
2013
Nº of employees:
10-50
Funding Amount:
$1M-$10M
Specific cause of failure:
Multiple Reasons
You can read more about their failure here.
Gowalla was a location-based social platform that allowed users to share their location. It tried to do many things at once, and shut down after 5 years.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Josh Williams, Scott Raymond
Country:
United States
Industry:
Social Media
Started in:
2007
Closed in:
2013
Nº of employees:
10-50
Funding Amount:
$10M-$50M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
HotelsAroundYou was an India service centered on last-minute and short stay bookings. They weren't capable of raising more money and had to shut down.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Animesh Chaudhary, Harsha Nallur, Mohsin Dingankar
Country:
India
Industry:
Travel
Started in:
2013
Closed in:
2017
Nº of employees:
1-10
Funding Amount:
< $1M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Kitchit brought local chefs to your home. They had to compete with other big food providers in the same market, which provoked their failure.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Brendan Marshall, Ian Ferguson
Country:
United States
Industry:
Food & Beverage
Started in:
2011
Closed in:
2016
Nº of employees:
10-50
Funding Amount:
$1M-$10M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Kno introduced double paneled e-textbooks. Despite raising $80M, the company saw its chances of scaling up diminish once Apple introduced its iconic iPad.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Babur Habib, Osman Rashid
Country:
United States
Industry:
Education
Started in:
2009
Closed in:
2013
Nº of employees:
+10,000
Funding Amount:
> $50M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Munchery allowed users to order gourmet food. However, they couldn't deliver the experience that it promised and build a profitable business model.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Conrad Chu, Tri Tran, Van Tran
Country:
United States
Industry:
Food & Beverage
Started in:
2011
Closed in:
2019
Nº of employees:
100-250
Funding Amount:
> $50M
Specific cause of failure:
Multiple Reasons
You can read more about their failure here.
MySpace became the most popular social networking site before Facebook. After competing with them, they decided to repurpose it as a platform for artists.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Aber Whitcomb, Brad Greenspan, Chris DeWolfe, Colin Digiaro, Josh Berman, Michael Addicott, Tom Anderson
Country:
United States
Industry:
Social Media
Started in:
2003
Closed in:
Active
Nº of employees:
250-500
Funding Amount:
$10M-$50M
Specific cause of failure:
Multiple Reasons
You can read more about their failure here.
QBotix offered solar panels that tracked solar light. Their competitors' efficiency improved, making QBotix's innovative solar panels less cost-effective.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Wasiq Bokhari
Country:
United States
Industry:
Software & Hardware
Started in:
2010
Closed in:
2015
Nº of employees:
10-50
Funding Amount:
$10M-$50M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Rafter was a course material provider for colleges. They had lots of competition and had to deal with logistical, financial, and market challenges.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Sara Leoni
Country:
United States
Industry:
Education
Started in:
2006
Closed in:
2016
Nº of employees:
50-100
Funding Amount:
> $50M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Rdio, a music streaming platform, failed due to poor marketing and distribution, ultimately folding to competition from Spotify and closing down.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Carter Adamson, Janus Friis, Niklas Zennström
Country:
United States
Industry:
Music
Started in:
2008
Closed in:
2015
Nº of employees:
50-100
Funding Amount:
> $50M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Sidecar was a transportation company. They had top-notch technology but no marketing strategy, and could only become useful in high-density cities.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Jahan Khanna, Sunil Paul
Country:
United States
Industry:
Transportation
Started in:
2011
Closed in:
2015
Nº of employees:
50-100
Funding Amount:
$10M-$50M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
SpoonRocket was a food delivery service making healthy meals each day. When their financial situation declined, they failed to fundraise to stay afloat.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Anson Tsui, Steven Hsiao
Country:
United States
Industry:
Food & Beverage
Started in:
2013
Closed in:
2016
Nº of employees:
10-50
Funding Amount:
$10M-$50M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Sprig delivered meals to customers who were looking for healthy choices. Sprig found the process time-consuming and expensive, and decided to shut down.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Gagan Biyani, Matt Kent, Morgan Springer, Neeraj Berry
Country:
United States
Industry:
Food & Beverage
Started in:
2013
Closed in:
2017
Nº of employees:
50-100
Funding Amount:
> $50M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Stayzilla, once a thriving homestay network with $33.5M in funding, closed due to unsustainable operational costs and consistent financial losses.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Rupal Yogendra, Sachit Singhi, Sachit Singhi, Yogendra Vasupal
Country:
India
Industry:
Travel
Started in:
2005
Closed in:
2017
Nº of employees:
250-500
Funding Amount:
$10M-$50M
Specific cause of failure:
Lack of Focus
You can read more about their failure here.
Stereomood was a music platform that provided mood-based song listings. The company was acquired but they weren’t able to make a profit.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Daniele Novaga, Eleonora Viviani, Giovanni Ferron, Maurizio Pratici
Country:
Italy
Industry:
Music
Started in:
2009
Closed in:
2015
Nº of employees:
10-50
Funding Amount:
No Data
Specific cause of failure:
Acquisition Flu
You can read more about their failure here.
Sunrise was a calendar app for mobile and desktop. They had good reviews from users, but calendars are hard to monetize and they have a low entry barrier.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Jeremy Le Van, Pierre Valade
Country:
France
Industry:
Productivity
Started in:
2012
Closed in:
2016
Nº of employees:
10-50
Funding Amount:
$1M-$10M
Specific cause of failure:
Bad Business Model
You can read more about their failure here.
TakeEatEasy enabled restaurants to provide a reliable delivery service for their customers. Their margins were insufficient and closed doors after 3 years.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Adrien Roose, Chloé Roose, Jean-Christophe Libbrecht, Karim Slaoui
Country:
Belgium
Industry:
Food & Beverage
Started in:
2013
Closed in:
2016
Nº of employees:
100-250
Funding Amount:
$10M-$50M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Verelo was a Canadian startup that offered web monitoring services from multiple locations. Not enough traction made the company shut down in 2012.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
McGrath, Michael Curry
Country:
Canada
Industry:
Analytics
Started in:
2012
Closed in:
2012
Nº of employees:
1-10
Funding Amount:
No Data
Specific cause of failure:
Lack of Funds
You can read more about their failure here.
What happened to Vine? Why did Vine shut down? When? Does TikTok face the same risk? Here's our detailed analysis.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Colin Kroll, Dom Hofmann, Rus Yusupov
Country:
United States
Industry:
Social Media
Started in:
2012
Closed in:
2017
Nº of employees:
50-100
Funding Amount:
No Data
Specific cause of failure:
Multiple Reasons
You can read more about their failure here.
Wantful was an e-Commerce founded in 2011. After experiencing exponential growth, it shut down in 2013 due to stiff competition from other companies.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
John Poisson
Country:
United States
Industry:
e-Commerce
Started in:
2011
Closed in:
2013
Nº of employees:
+10,000
Funding Amount:
$1M-$10M
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Wesabe is a former Personal Finance Management system that helped clients make better financial decisions. Having better competitors made Wesabe fail.
Details of the startup:
Founders:
Jason Knight, Marc Hedlund
Country:
United States
Industry:
Finances
Started in:
2005
Closed in:
2010
Nº of employees:
10-50
Funding Amount:
$1M-$10M
Specific cause of failure:
Bad Management
You can read more about their failure here.
Gameslog was a gaming site monetized with affiliate marketing. But the site never took off, as the market was already saturated.
Details of the startup:
Founder:
Michael Hebenstreit
Country:
Germany
Industry:
Entertainment
Started in:
2013
Closed in:
2014
Funding Amount:
$0
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Justin Hunter had the courage to challenge Google Docs, all because he was scared of losing all his writing saved in the cloud. So he created Graphite Docs, a privacy-focused alternative to Google Docs powered by blockchain, that assured users that their saved files were indeed safe. And the effort paid off; he started gaining traction from individual users. However, he decided to focus on the B2B model, rather than B2C, and this decision cost him the business. Why? Read on to find it out.
Details of the startup:
Founder:
Justin Hunter
Country:
United States
Industry:
Software & Hardware
Started in:
2017
Closed in:
2020
Funding Amount:
$100K-$500K
Specific cause of failure:
Bad Business Model
You can read more about their failure here.
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KnowNet was a tutoring platform. A SWOT analysis saved Rik and Ari from lifting their name into the failure hall of fame.
Details of the startup:
Founder:
Rik Ganguly
Country:
United States
Industry:
Education
Started in:
2014
Closed in:
2014
Funding Amount:
$0
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Lockpick Entertainment was a small game studio, that created Dreamlords, a famous MMORTS game. They did it well, making thousands per month. But they began to increase the scope, and after 6 years, they went out of business due to bankruptcy.
Details of the startup:
Founder:
Jesper Bylund
Country:
Sweden
Industry:
Software & Hardware
Started in:
2006
Closed in:
2012
Funding Amount:
$0
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Eelco built Muun in his own, a SaaS that allowed co-working spaces owners to run their businesses effectively. He validated the idea and after weeks, he launched it. However, once in the market, Muun had to compete with really big competitors which had much more features and a better pricing. So, Eelco decided to shut it down.
Details of the startup:
Founder:
Eelco
Country:
Netherlands
Industry:
Software & Hardware
Started in:
2017
Closed in:
2018
Funding Amount:
$0
Specific cause of failure:
Bad Marketing
You can read more about their failure here.
Jeremiah is an ex-entrepreneur who co-founded NOX, a nightlife app that allowed users to book events, services, and VIPs. The 5-person-team raised $90,000 from several angel investors but had to pivot into an e-commerce platform for alcoholic beverages, which was eventually making $20,000/month. However, the lack of both financial discipline and ideas to scale led to its failure.
Details of the startup:
Founder:
Jeremiah Lam
Country:
Singapore
Industry:
e-Commerce
Started in:
2015
Closed in:
2018
Funding Amount:
< $100K
Specific cause of failure:
Mismanagement of Funds
You can read more about their failure here.
Onepagetrip was a travel itinerary sharing community. Not having a plan to make money from the beginning was a stupid rookie mistake.
Details of the startup:
Founder:
Ana Santos
Country:
Australia
Industry:
Travel
Started in:
2014
Closed in:
2015
Funding Amount:
$0
Specific cause of failure:
Bad Business Model
You can read more about their failure here.
Marc co-founded *openmargin, a social e-reader app that turned books into small communities. Being too early in the market, having huge competitors like Amazon, and not shipping fast enough were three of the reasons for the startup’s failure.
Details of the startup:
Founder:
Marc Köhlbrugge
Country:
Netherlands
Industry:
Productivity
Started in:
2009
Closed in:
2014
Funding Amount:
$100K-$500K
Specific cause of failure:
Lack of Focus
You can read more about their failure here.
Andrew Davison is one of the automation kings. He is a Zapier Certified Expert and an Integromat Partner running Luhhu, a business automation agency. Before that, he built Teacher Finder, a marketplace for language teachers. It didn’t take off, but using Zapier each day helped him start his agency.
Details of the startup:
Founder:
Andrew Davison
Country:
Hungary
Industry:
Education
Started in:
2015
Closed in:
2020
Funding Amount:
$0
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
Amit is a hard-core sales professional, who decided to set up a home-made food business with his wife. They started investing $1,200/month to set up the startup and get the first customers. However, once running they had to confront a big problem: the prices of their competitors were much lower. After some pivots, they decided to shut it down.
Details of the startup:
Founder:
Amit Gogia
Country:
India
Industry:
Food & Beverage
Started in:
2014
Closed in:
2015
Funding Amount:
$0
Specific cause of failure:
Competition
You can read more about their failure here.
WURA was an on-demand video platform for African and Nollywood movies. Mike hired a few developers to build it and spent $35,000 on Facebook marketing. The business grew fast and he was making $3,861 per month. However, YouTube competition and cash flow killed the startup.
Details of the startup:
Founder:
Michael Ojo
Country:
United States
Industry:
Entertainment
Started in:
2013
Closed in:
2018
Funding Amount:
$0
Specific cause of failure:
Lack of Funds
You can read more about their failure here.
