California tech startup once worth $1 billion shuts down
Briefly

Flip shut down and removed its app and social accounts. The website displayed a brief message saying the mission now comes to a close and provided an email for outstanding balances. The company reported 16.5 million users, 5 billion video views, $13.4 million paid to creators, and $375 million in brand sales. Flip combined short-form video, direct shoppable carts, creator payouts for engagement, and viewer discounts for watching. The FAQ promoted rewards and cash-outable creator earnings. Heavy product discounting drew scrutiny, even after a $144 million funding round that valued the company at $1.05 billion.
The Flip team's parting message on its website says its "mission now comes to a close," but lists statistics from the app's run: 16.5 million users, 5 billion video views, $13.4 million paid out to content creators and $375 million in sales for brands. The note also offered an email address to be contacted by anyone with an outstanding balance - Flip's app has disappeared from the Apple and Google app stores.
Before its closure, Flip blended some tried-and-true features of major tech companies. There was a short-form video feed, in the mold of TikTok. Users could add products mentioned in those videos directly to a cart, like with Amazon. Creators were paid for engagement on their posts, like on other social video apps, and users even got product discounts for just watching and scrolling.
Read at SFGATE
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