Investors have been telling startups to extend their runways for months. The economy's warning lights have been flashing for a while, and many tech companies have already laid off workers to keep themselves afloat.
Sadly, some startups — which perhaps didn’t have all that much in the bank to begin with or had a high burn rate, and couldn’t raise further funding or find a buyer — have simply run out of runway.
Several bankruptcies have already been announced this year, and we expect, unfortunately, that there will be many more.
Here we list those startups that have gone out of business in 2023 — and the investors that bet on them.
Our Intelligence team will be updating the Airtable at the bottom of this article with the full details of the companies that have gone under, and the investors in them that we could find who are set to lose out.
August
- Fronted — an open banking fintech founded by ex Apple and Monzo execs that helped renters finance deposits with credit. It shut down despite things looking promising when it recovered from the pandemic with a seed round led by Passion Capital.
July 2023
- VanMoof — the Dutch e-bike startup declared bankruptcy in its Netherlands HQ, and around two weeks later also filed for insolvency in the UK. Investors included Balderton Capital, Felix Capital and Norwest Venture Partners.
- MusicQubed — a digital music streaming service based in the UK which is in the process of going into liquidation according to Companies House, and last filed an update in July. It has raised just under €1m since its launch in 2010.
- Oja — a London-based grocery delivery company for ethnic and world food products, which announced that it had shut down operations in July due to “funding constraints.” It was backed by investors including Tiny VC, LocalGlobe and footballer Raheem Sterling.
May 2023
- Alvant — A UK startup which produced new complex metal materials that were lighter than alternatives. It officially dissolved its operations in May according to Companies House filings.
- SecretSales — an online discount retail platform based in the UK. Before shutting down, it had raised around $21m in funding.
April 2023
- Aegis Data — UK startup which offered data and compliance consultancy services to financial institutions. It raised a total of £10m from one round in 2014.
- Insurami — a UK startup which offered deposit guarantees for commercial real estate landlords. It raised £1m in seed funding in 2018 and then £42m in debt in 2021 from investors including Global Founders Capital and Entrepreneur First.
February 2023
- Yababa — Berlin-based grocery delivery company backed by Creandum, Project A and Food Labs. Raised $15.5m in November 2021.
January 2023
- Lightyear — Netherlands-based company which aimed to produce the world’s first production-ready solar car. Launched in 2016, raised $241m in total — including €81m announced in September 2022 — filed for bankruptcy at the end of January.
- Glisser — London-based SaaS company backed by Downing Ventures.
The startups that have gone bust so far in 2023
This article was last updated on August 22 2023.
