Raised £2.3M from 15,000+ backers for a tiny autonomous drone — WIRED's investigation found it barely flew, only 600 of 15,000 ordered were delivered, and the company folded in administration
Distressed acquisition below last-round valuation · Fatal mistake: Zano was a tiny autonomous camera drone on Kickstarter. Raised £2.3M from 15,000+ backers in 2014 — record for a European Kickstarter hardware campaign. Shipping: 600 drones delivered of 15,000 ordered (4%). WIRED sent journalist Mark Harris to investigate. Harris found: drones couldn't fly reliably, software was unfinished, company was in "survival mode." Company went into administration November 2015. Backers lost £2.3M.
Evaluating only Zano’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Competition as the #1 likely cause. Documented cause: Founder chaos.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
FUNDING
CRISIS
SHUTDOWN
Full Analysis
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Documented cause
Zano raised £2.3M from 15K+ backers. Delivered 600 of 15,000 ordered (4%). WIRED investigation found: barely flew, software unfinished. Administration November 2015.
Lesson
“Micro-drone crowdfunding must demonstrate autonomous stable flight on video before launch — Zano's campaign videos showed smooth flight that wasn't achievable with the actual hardware; autonomous drone physics require prototype validation before 15,000 unit commitments.”
Failure anatomy
Collapse type
Fire Sale
📉 MEDIUM
Hype cycle
Peak
Moat type
Technology
Fatal mistake
Zano was a tiny autonomous camera drone on Kickstarter. Raised £2.3M from 15,000+ backers in 2014 — record for a European Kickstarter hardware campaign. Shipping: 600 drones delivered of 15,000 ordered (4%). WIRED sent journalist Mark Harris to investigate. Harris found: drones couldn't fly reliably, software was unfinished, company was in "survival mode." Company went into administration November 2015. Backers lost £2.3M.