Quirky – the consumer products invention company with a large office in downtown Schenectady – announced Tuesday morning that it’s filing for bankruptcy, and says it’s working to “facilitate a sale of substantially all of its assets”.
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Quirky’s $19.9 million revolving loan from Comerica Bank was coming due in October and $36.8 million in convertible bonds were set to mature at the end of the year, though they could be converted to stock then.
And there’s still a chance that the Bankruptcy could bring out new buyers for Wink, according to Fortune, raising the price for the home-automation company. Kaufman’s exit followed a tumultuous year that included financial difficulties, key product flops, and a botched security update for the Wink Hub, the control device at the center of Wink’s smart home platform.
If other bids are not accepted, Wink will likely be acquired by Flextronics, a $26 billion company with its US headquarters in San Jose, California. N o layoffs at Wink are planned. Wink’s engineers and designers will continue to enhance the Wink platform to provide new, meaningful ways for customers to interact with their smart home.
Statements from both Quirky and Wink stress that the the bankruptcy will not impact Wink’s customers or its relationship with The Home Depot and Amazon.
Some of Quirky’s best-sellers were also among its simplest, like Cordies, which organized unruly wires and a four-in-one wine opener. The move was heralded as an example of Tech Valley’s potential. And each week, it would approve a handful of those products for development-and send a handful of completed products to its retail partners for sale. And the word out of the Schenectady office was that things were very shaky (though the company still bought an $8,000 ice cream machine).
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But a number of Quirky’s picks never saw the light of day before the company ran out of money.
