Color, The $41 Million App, Really Is Shutting Down Now

Color, a startup which raised $41 million for a photo-sharing service, only to be racked by executive turmoil and consumer anomie, is shutting down its app, the company just announced via its website.

“Alert: We hope you’ve enjoyed sharing your stories via real-time video. Regretfully, the app will no longer be available after 12/31/2012,” the notice reads.

The company behind the service is taking steps to shut down as well, having distributed at least some assets to shareholders, who received funds by wire transfer on Monday, Business Insider has learned.

That’s according to Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer for Adam Witherspoon, a former employee who is suing the company for retaliation and infliction of emotional distress. (Witherspoon, as an early employee with vested stock, was a Color shareholder.)

Witherspoon’s lawsuit says Color had struck a deal for Apple to take on approximately 20 members of Color’s engineering team. TechCrunch’s sources say the value of that deal was $7 million.

In mid-October, Sequoia Capital, the lead investor in Color’s $41 million investment round a year ago, strenuously denied reports that Color was shutting down. By that point, Sequoia Capital partner Doug Leone had already quit his board seat.

It’s not clear how much of the $41 million remained at the time Color struck its deal with Apple, or whether the company distributed all of its assets on Monday.

Via: Business Insider