Welsh powerline comms firm goes into voluntary liquidationHarry YeatesLanergy, the powerline communications company, has gone into voluntary liquidation. It is the second UK powerline start-up to fail in recent months, following the demise of Reading firm nSine in November last year.
"They ran out of cash, is the simple answer," said Andy Beckingham, one of two partners at the Newport office of corporate recovery firm Begbies Traynor, appointed as joint liquidators. "They had a certain amount of cash invested, but they got to the point where no more would be."
The Newport-based firm was set up in 2000, with £1.35m venture funding from VC firm Celtic House, Jon Moulton of Alchemy partners and the Wales Innovation Fund.
Despite bold sales predictions last year from executive v-p and co-founder Andrew Wooding, it appears the proliferation of low-cost 802.11 wireless LAN equipment has made life impossible for the firm. A Lanergy client PCI card costs £99, compared to £40-£50 for the 802.11b equivalent.
"We're looking to sell some of the projects as a going concern," said Beckingham. "At the moment I'm optimistic. I'm in serious negotiations with one particular party and I hope to conclude a deal soon."