After months of teetering on the brink, Ugobe, maker of the the green, scaly, rubbery Pleo dinosaurs has taken its last breath.
The company has fired all its employees and filed for liquidation of its assets under the bankruptcy law, according to a report in the Idaho Statesman.
The Pleo was just about two years old, having been launched in January 2007. The company has sold about 100,000 Pleos till date.
Two months ago, we reported about how Ugobe was struggling to find fresh funding to stay alive. Last year the company saw a host of top management departures, ran through
two CEOs, closed down its office in California and pared down its
marketing and PR staff.
Yet Ugobe President and COO Doug Swanson while speaking to Wired.com in February seemed hopeful that the company could raise fresh funding to stay alive. Now Ugobe has said in its bankruptcy filing that it has assets of $1.6 million and liabilities of $3.6 million.
It’s a sad end for a company whose Pleo robot was recognized for its ability to realistically mimic a pet. The Pleo has a graceful motion and an uncanny ability to respond to human
interaction. The robot can respond to being
petted, makes feeding sounds, plays when engaged and can walk around the
house.
The Pleo, which cost $350 when it was introduced, now retails for $245 on Amazon. Most likely, once the current stock of Pleos are exhausted, the dinosaurs will be extinct.
Photo: Pleo (Mrs Gemstone/Flickr)
