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 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.
