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   From: dei@fired.com   
      
   Flip, a California tech startup that rode its TikTok-esque shopping and   
   reviews app to a $1 billion valuation in 2024, has now shut down.   
      
   The company — headquartered under the name Humans Inc. in El Segundo, per   
   its website — scrubbed its main landing page sometime after Aug. 16, per   
   Wayback Machine records. Friday, the website featured only a brief message   
   titled, “Thank you for making Flip real,” and beginning, “We are saddened   
   to share that Flip has shut down.” Flip’s TikTok and Instagram accounts   
   have vanished. The Information first reported the company’s shutdown.   
      
   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.   
      
   “What’s the catch?” the company’s FAQ page said. “Honestly, there isn’t   
   one. You post, you watch, you shop — and Flip rewards you for it. Rewards   
   get you free products. Creator Earnings get you real money you can cash   
   out. That’s really it.”   
      
   The company didn’t reveal in the website note why it’s shutting down, but   
   the business model of heavily discounting products was raising eyebrows as   
   early as 2023, when Flip’s popularity skyrocketed. In April 2024, the   
   company topped up its coffers with a $144 million funding round that   
   valued it at $1.05 billion, Bloomberg reported at the time. Flip touted   
   that valuation in job postings earlier this year.   
      
   The “unicorn” status wouldn’t save the company; 16 months after the   
   funding round, several Flip workers now have “#OpenToWork” banners on   
   LinkedIn. Flip’s shutdown is a familiar indication about the modern   
   economy of social video: TikTok and Instagram are absolute juggernauts,   
   and any potential upstart has a difficult hill to climb.   
      
   https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/flip-startup-shuts-down-billion-   
   21022297.php   
      
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