| Founded | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Closed | 2017 |
| Country | USA |
| Sector | Hardware |
| Total raised | ~$48M USD ($14M VC + $34M pre-orders) |
| Collapse type | Fraud Explosion |
| Founder | Antoine Balaresque |
Lily Camera
"Autonomous selfie drone pre-sold 60,000 units from a viral video. The viral video wasn't shot with the Lily camera. Product never shipped at scale. $34M in pre-orders refunded."
Sudden collapse triggered by fraud exposure
Key Events Timeline
Lily Robotics was founded in 2013 by Antoine Balaresque and Henry Bradlow — UC Berkeley students — to build the Lily Camera: a waterproof autonomous drone designed to autonomously follow and film its owner.
// full analysis
Full analysis requires the Analyst plan
Documented cause · Market cycle · Competitive moat type · Verified lesson
€149/mo · or contribute your autopsy for free access →
UnicornBurn Season 0 opens July 2026. 10,000 founders competing in one world. Your startup fights for the market every Saturday. Most will end up here. Which one are you?
JOIN SEASON 0 →Lily Camera followed a documented pattern. Identify the same signals in any company before they reach the point of no return.
Witnessed a startup failure first-hand? Share the real story. First-hand accounts from founders and team members get prioritized for publication.
SUBMIT AN AUTOPSY →Failure intelligence for due diligence and risk analysis.
Structured dataset by collapse type, for 5031 startups. 7-day trial.
See plans →Free JSON API. No key required. 50 autopsies, 10 req/day.
Full dataset available with Intelligence plan API key. CORS enabled.
Explore API →Academic, press, or research use? Free JSON API available — no auth required →