// startup autopsy

Open Harbor

Supply chain compliance SaaS swallowed before it could scale

timingFire Sale

Distressed acquisition below last-round valuation · Fatal mistake: Open Harbor launched an enterprise supply chain platform requiring long integration cycles just as the dot-com bust froze corporate IT spending.

Founded	1999
Closed	2003
Country	USA
Sector	Saas

50%

Key Events Timeline

1999-01-01

FOUNDING

Open Harbor founded to provide global trade compliance and supply chain SaaS to enterprise customers.

2001-03-01

FUNDING

Raised $10M in what proved to be its final funding round as the dot-com market collapsed.

2001-10-01

LAYOFF

Reduced headcount significantly as enterprise sales pipeline stalled following 9/11 and economic downturn.

2003-04-01

SHUTDOWN

Open Harbor acquired by a strategic buyer in a distressed sale, ending its independent operation.

Full Analysis

Analyst plan

Documented cause

Open Harbor was a supply chain and trade compliance SaaS company founded in 1999 at the height of the dot-com bubble. The company raised $10M in funding but struggled to maintain sales momentum after the dot-co...

m crash of 2001. While it initially operated as an independent venture, the company could not achieve sustainable revenue growth or scale its customer base following the market downturn. Rather than c

Verified lesson

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€18M

Peak valuation

HypeCycle · MoatType · ResearchTags

Open Harbor raised €10M before open harbor launched an enterprise supply chain platform requiring long integration cycles just as the dot-com bust froze corporate it spending. ended it. See the documented cause, verified lesson and all failure signals.

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