Alice.com goes dark

Alice.com, the e-commerce site launched in 2008 by Brian Wiegand and Mark McGuire of Madison, has gone into receivership, along with its holding company. In 2007, the Madison entrepreneurs sold Jellyfish, a social shopping company, to Microsoft for $50 million.

Alice.com allowed manufacturers to sell everyday items directly to consumers. The founders hoped to profit by selling customer information to the manufacturers, by placing coupons with consumers, and by earning fees from distributing free samples.

Investors poured $18 million into Alice.com, and in early 2012, the company merged with Koto.com, a Spanish company.

Just two years ago, the company employed 31 workers in Middleton and 42 people at a distribution center in Indianapolis.

The petition for receivership lists Alice.com’s assets at $1.4 million and liabilities at $7.6 million. Most of the debt, $6.7 million, is owed to the holding company. The holding company lists assets of $7.3 million (including Alice’s portion), and $5.8 million in debt, with the fair market value of its assets falling short of its liabilities.

Comments

comments