by Taylor Soper on 5, 2017 at 11:36 am April 7, 2017 at 7:23 am april

Noise the security for females shopping for one thing aside from old-fashioned relationship apps: Siren is shutting straight down.

The app that is seattle-based which billed it self as an option to internet sites such as for instance Tinder and Match.com with a concentrate on empowering women, is shutting its doorways after operating away from cash.

Siren co-founder Susie Lee penned a post detailing the reasons for the company’s shutdown tuesday. She noted that Blackrun Ventures, which this past year spent $225,000 as an element of Siren’s seed round, had never “completed their obligation.”

“Instead, we received tiny, unpredictable quantities, aided by the other investors fearlessly stepping forward,” Lee had written. “Through the commitment among these committed individuals we had been in a position to carry on development, but we’re able to never ever prepare beyond a couple of months, hindering development, milestones, and brand new financing possibilities.”

In a meeting with GeekWire, Lee stated that “all closing docs have been finalized, but never finished their dedication.”

“Instead, they issued little, unpredictable tranches, frequently with months in between, despite sometimes daily requested updates and repeated assurances,” Lee noted.

Blackrun Ventures, which spent included in its women-focused investment arm, nevertheless lists Siren on its profile web page. We’ve reached away into the firm for lots more details and can update this post whenever we hear straight back. Modify: On Friday, Blackrun taken care of immediately GeekWire and supplied this declaration:

“Blackrun Ventures joined a number of investors to take part in Siren’s $500,000 seed financing round. Whilst the lead investor, we committed $225,000, of which 75% had been disbursed over the past one year after the conclusion of homework.

We had been focused on supplying the remainder associated with investment to aid Siren’s expansion, and delivered our consultant to do business with the group on the strategic way. Unfortuitously, the founders made the decision on April 4th to shut the company down.

The dating application market is crowded and highly competitive, but our good reasons for buying Siren had been strategic, and we also had been won over by the eyesight and passion of this company’s founders. Nonetheless, we respect their choice. although we nevertheless see prospect of the company, especially internationally,”

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“Despite the doubt shadowing us, we did our better to build on our energy, doing every thing inside our capacity to stay afloat,” Lee composed when you look at the post. “But without a means to harness and circulate funds for expansion, we just could maybe not grow fast sufficient. The efforts of two co-founders alone are not adequate to contend with the companies that are well-funded this area. Regrettably, this comes at the same time whenever Siren revealed strong traction—relocation and expansion to nyc, the forming of key partnerships, and user success tales that write to us we had been onto one thing unique.”

Siren CEO Susie Lee celebrates the App for the win at the 2015 GeekWire Awards year.

Established in 2014 by Lee and co-founder Katrina Hess, whom served as COO, Siren differentiated itself off their dating apps by prioritizing women’s security and enabling users to interact through their responses to day-to-day concerns given by regional companies and regional social icons. The application relied on discussion as a point that is starting than long pages or picture searching.

“We’ve created the very first mobile platform created for unforeseen and constructive flirting,” Lee told GeekWire in 2014.

This past September as entrepreneurs-in-residence at the New Museum’s incubator program, NEW INC after winning the GeekWire App of the Year award in 2015, Lee and Hess relocated Siren to New York City.

Lee said the organization ended up being “pre-revenue,” but had a revenue that is three-pronged eyesight that included online-to-offline partnerships with neighborhood companies, compensated subscriptions, and “psychometric information analysis of aggregate individual reactions.”

The software had 38,000 new users, with an 80 response that is percent to initial communications, Lee noted. Siren had raised $960,000. Its only employees that are current the 2 co-founders, who will be both now back Seattle.

Here’s Lee’s blog post that is full

Its with hefty hearts—and eyes to your future—that we ought to announce that Friday, April 7, 2017, Siren will likely be shutting our “doors.”

As it was devastating while it’s not unusual for a startup to run out of money, the way we ran out was as unexpected. At the start of 2016, we closed our round with a lead investor whoever objective would be to help female-centric businesses and whom saw the possible in Siren’s clear differentiation in a saturated market. Yet, around this writing, a calendar that is full later on, they will have maybe not finished their responsibility. Rather, we received little, unpredictable quantities, using the other investors fearlessly stepping ahead. Through the commitment of the committed individuals we had been in a position to carry on development, nevertheless we’re able to never ever prepare beyond a couple of months, hindering development, milestones, and brand new financing possibilities.