// startup autopsy

SpongeFish

Early video SaaS drowned by bad timing and a financial crisis

timingSilent Shutdown

Quiet closure with no public announcement · Fatal mistake: SpongeFish entered enterprise video management before the market was ready and then got hit by the 2008 financial crisis before achieving product-market fit.

Founded	2006
Closed	2010
Country	USA
Sector	Media

50%

Key Events Timeline

2006-01-01

FOUNDING

SpongeFish founded to build an enterprise video search and management SaaS platform.

2008-03-01

FUNDING

SpongeFish raises $2M to scale its enterprise video platform amid growing online video interest.

2008-10-01

REGULATORY ACTION

The 2008 financial crisis collapses enterprise software budgets, severely impacting SpongeFish's sales pipeline.

2010-06-01

SHUTDOWN

SpongeFish shuts down after failing to achieve sustainable revenue in a market not yet ready for enterprise video SaaS.

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Documented cause

SpongeFish was an early-stage video search and management SaaS platform that failed during the 2008 financial crisis. The startup's collapse was driven by two primary factors: first, the macroeconomic downturn ...

severely contracted enterprise budgets, eliminating customer acquisition and retention opportunities as businesses cut discretionary spending on software tools. Second, and more fundamentally, the onl

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€5M

Peak valuation

HypeCycle · MoatType · ResearchTags

SpongeFish raised €2M before spongefish entered enterprise video management before the market was ready and then got hit by the 2008 financial crisis before achieving product-market fit. ended it. See the documented cause, verified lesson and all failure signals.

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Key Events Timeline

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