Lily’s Drone Dream Comes Crashing Down Despite Raising $34 Million in Pre-Orders

In 2015, Lily Robotics came out with a camera drone that could neatly fit into your backpack. The compact drone had a lot going for it with a 12-megapixel camera, ability to shoot 1080p video at 60 frames per second, and a 94-degree field of view – all this on paper, of course. However, Lily founders Antoine Balaresque and Henry Bradlow on Thursday announced that the company would be shutting down, the and promising drone will not see the light of day.

According to a blog post, Antoine and Henry explained that the San Francisco startup, which raised secured $34 million in pre-orders for its drone, will be shutting due to lack of funds. The co-founders of Lily said that the company was unable to further financing to move ahead with manufacturing and shipping the first batch of drones. The company, however, has enough cash left to refund those who pre-ordered the drones. Customers who pre-ordered the drone would receive the refund in the next 60 days and customers do not need to take any action on their part.

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“After so much hard work, we are sad to see this adventure come to an end. We are very sorry and disappointed that we will not be able to deliver your flying camera, and are incredibly grateful for your support as a pre-order customer,” the blog read.

Forbes had reported in January 2016 that Lily Robotics secured $34 million in pre-orders for 60,000 units. The company was positioning itself as a competitor to GoPro.

Among other things, the GPS-enabled quadcopter could follow a user at speeds up to 25 miles per hour at a height between 10 to 30 feet.

Those customers who have used cards that have expired now can fill out a form so that they can claim the refund via other means.