App development company Appster, founded in 2011 by then 19-year-olds Mark McDonald and Josiah Humphrey, pictured, has gone into liquidation.
The decision has seen 25 employees in Melbourne out of a job – and some 400 staff in four offices across the world are also facing a possibly grim future.
Paul Vartelas of BK Taylor & Co has been appointed administrator. He has said the main reason for the collapse was a “sharp drop” in available work over the last six months
At its peak, Appster was said to be turning over about $19 million in revenue and – according to a Murdoch press report – had attracted a number of high-flying advisers including former PayPal CFO David Jaques and ex-Virgin Australia exec Liz Savage.
Appster’s business model is said to have involved providing start-up businesses with development services and helping with strategy, business development and capital-raising.
The main reason for the collapse was a “sharp drop” in available work over the last six months, says Vartelas. “They tell me it happened very quickly, everything was normal but then suddenly their budget halved and they couldn’t meet any targets,” he said.