Gigaom – The innovative technology blog that captured the attention of more than 6.5 million monthly readers, abruptly announced Monday that it has closed shop. The message published on the site reads:
“Gigaom recently became unable to pay its creditors in full at this time. As a result, the company is working with its creditors that have rights to all of the company’s assets as their collateral. All operations have ceased. We do not know at this time what the lenders intend to do with the assets or if there will be any future operations using those assets. The company does not currently intend to file bankruptcy. We would like to take a moment and thank our readers and our community for supporting us all along.” — Gigaom management
The site was launched in 2006 by founder Om Malik, who wrote on his personal site, “Gigaom is winding down and its assets are now controlled by the company’s lenders. It is not how you want the story of a company you founded to end.” He goes on to write “I might have left Gigaom, the company, over a year ago, but Gigaom, the idea still lives in my heart.” A year ago, Malik left the site after it raised about $8 million in new funds from Shea Ventures and its other existing investors, including True Ventures, Alloy Ventures and Reed Elsevier Ventures. Malik then joined True Ventures as a partner. Executive editor, Tom Krazit, left the site at the end of February. Gigaom recently hired new management, including an interim CEO. In recent years, the company has focused more on its lucrative analyst business, Gigaom Research, than its web news site. It’s unclear how this will impact Gigaom’s other divisions including research and events. We’ll continue to update you as the situation unfolds.