Jawbone‘s demise last week closed the book on the wearables company, which saw at least 16 separate financing rounds over the company’s 17 years in existence. The company raked in $929.9M in disclosed funding, making it one of the most well-funded companies ever to fold.
Jawbone ranks as the second costliest startup death or asset sale ever by a VC-funded company globally since at least 2009, as well as the most expensive failure by any consumer electronics startup, according to CB Insights data.
Since 2009, the only failed VC-backed startup in any industry to have burned through more cash than Jawbone was Solyndra – the solar technology startup that became famous for raising $1.22B (including $535M from the federal government) before closing shop in 2011.
Solyndra’s disclosed valuation peaked at $791M in 2009, while Jawbone’s highest-ever valuation was $3.2B in 2014. Jawbone’s last valuation prior to its shuttering was $1.2B, following back-to-back downrounds in Q2’15 and Q1’16. (Click here for a closer look at Jawbone’s valuation history.)
Jawbone is also the only consumer electronics company among the top ten costliest VC-backed startup failures. Four of the five most expensive flameouts come from the solar technology industry: Abound Solar secured $614.4M in funding (including $400M from the federal government) before shuttering in Q3’12; MiaSole raised $526.4M before an asset sale in Q3’12; and Nanosolar closed $491.5M in funding before dying in Q3’13.
Rounding out the top ten are startups from a variety of industries: Online lender Privlo ($358.6M raised) died in Q4’15; media startup Mode Media ($229.2M) died in Q3’16; biopharmaceutical company Biolex Therapeutics ($208.1M) died in Q3’12; and energy startups Aquion Energy ($196.6M) and Range Fuels ($189.5M) died in Q1’17 and Q4’11, respectively.
All ten of the costliest VC-backed failures were US-based companies. See the full list below.
| Rank | Company | Closure | Fail Date | Total Amount Raised | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Solyndra | Dead | 2/2/2016 | $1.22B | Solar |
| 2 | Jawbone | Dead | 10/21/2014 | $929.9M | Consumer Electronics |
| 3 | Abound Solar | Dead | 5/11/2017 | $614.4M | Solar |
| 4 | MiaSole | Asset Sale | 5/23/2017 | $526.4M | Solar |
| 5 | Nanosolar | Dead | 7/13/2016 | $491.5M | Solar |
| 6 | Privlo | Dead | 1/28/2016 | $358.6M | Online Lending |
| 7 | Mode Media | Dead | 7/1/2016 | $229.2M | Media |
| 8 | Biolex Therapeutics | Dead | 12/13/2013 | $208.1M | Biopharmaceutical |
| 9 | Aquion Energy | Dead | 9/21/2015 | $196.6M | Energy |
| 10 | Range Fuels | Dead | 2/15/2017 | $189.5M | Energy |
For more on why well-funded startups fail, check out post-mortems of 111 of the costliest deaths of all time.
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