NASA Partner Canoo Falls Through

The very short story of Canoo ends here with the predictable failure of a manufacturer still navigating troubled waters.

The story of Canoo, a promising electric mobility startup, officially concludes with its bankruptcy filing in the United States. After seven years of efforts to establish itself in the competitive electric vehicle market, the manufacturer immediately ceases all operations. Its assets will be liquidated under the supervision of a court-appointed administrator.

The lack of significant news from Canoo since 2022 already suggested that the company was operating blindly. Despite prestigious partnerships with NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, and Walmart, Canoo never managed to turn these opportunities into sustainable financial success. Too heavily dependent on public aid, the startup failed to secure an essential final loan, and efforts to attract foreign investors did not succeed.

Meanwhile, Canoo accumulated scandals. In 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined it $1.5 million for misleading investors during its IPO in 2020. That same year, it was scrutinized for spending $1.7 million on private flights for its CEO, double its annual revenue, which was already substantial at $900,000. Prior to this, in 2022, the manufacturer made headlines accusing some departing executives of intellectual property theft.

Canoo is not an isolated case. Other electric mobility startups, like Fisker, also failed after burning through their cash reserves without achieving real return on investment. These recurring bankruptcies demonstrate how difficult it is for new entrants to replicate Tesla’s success.

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