Lily Drone Cancelled: Why We Weren’t Surprised

Back in early 2015, the Lily Drone kickstarter quickly raised almost $50 million. News was abuzz with excitement for all the features the creators claimed it would have. However, after almost 2 years in production, the Lily team sent a sad email to all of their supporters. “Over the past few months, we have tried to secure financing in order to unlock our manufacturing line and ship our first units – but have been unable to do this. As a result, we are deeply saddened to say that we are planning to wind down the company and offer refunds to customers”. Many are saddened by this announcement, but for those following the drone market, it came as no surprise.

Here is a breakdown of why this wasn’t a shocking announcement:

Technological advancement: When the Lily drone was first announced, it boasted the ability to have a mid-air takeoff, waterproofing, a wearable tracking unit for follow me functions with autonomous flight and more. It was so amazing that many of us were skeptical that they would be able to pull it off. It was going to take more than a startup with some capital to pull that off, which is why only DJI was able to accomplish come close with their Mavic Pro drone, a collapsible quadcopter that can fly for longer, has a better camera, and sports all the flight modes and more. Technology quickly caught up to Lily’s claims and even if it hit the market, it would not have done well.

Price point: $500 was never believably attainable. Comparable drones by industry leaders were more than double that. It’s certainly an attractive number to investors but was it ever really achievable? Right now the DJI Mavic Pro is priced at $1000, and although it is a more powerful craft, even that price seems way too low compared to everything else on the market and what it can offer.

Tech specs: Even after 2 years of development, the pre-released specs don’t hold up to the DJI Mavic. It seems designed entirely around the idea that people only wanted a selfie drone. With a flight time of less than 20 minutes, a maximum range of 100 feet, altitude of 50ft, and 1080p camera, it even fails when compared to the older DJI Phantom 3 Standard, a drone currently available for $499. Drone manufacturers these days know that people want a tool that could accomplish more that just one task. In the cooking industry these are known as “unitaskers.” Often they only do their job moderately better than a multipurpose tool, taking up space in your drawer as well as your wallet.

It seems that although back in 2015 the Lily announcement was exciting and its specs were amazing to the average consumer, it was clear that they were capitalizing on a crowd that didn’t know enough about the drone industry and how quickly it was progressing. Now we can count on companies like DJI to do the intense development we want to see without relying on crowdsourcing.

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