The British drone startup that set a record for the most-funded European Kickstarter project earlier this year has now folded, according to a statement sent to backers on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, cofounder and CEO Ivan Reedman abruptly left Torquing Group, citing “personal health issues and irreconcilable differences.”

In January 2015, Torquing Group concluded its Kickstarter campaign to fund production of its handheld drone, known as the Zano, raising more than £2.3 million ($3.4 million) in under two months.

When Ars visited the company headquarters in May 2015, Reedman promised that the drone would be shipping in July 2015, which it did not. Torquing also declined to demonstrate the drone in flight for us. When the BBC visited earlier this year, the news agency also reported notable problems.

To date, Torquing Group has only shipped 600 of the more than 15,000 drones ordered.

Pennies on the dollar

In a Wednesday statement sent to backers, the company wrote:

Having explored all options known to us, and after seeking professional advice, we have made the difficult decision to pursue a creditors' voluntary liquidation. All creditors will be contacted by an insolvency practitioner next week. We are greatly disappointed with the outcome of the Zano project and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us during this difficult period, especially our loyal employees whose commitment has exceeded all expectations.

Neither Reedman nor the company’s head of market Reece Crowther immediately responded to Ars’ request for further comment.

The company website appears to be offline, while the Twitter feed has not been updated since earlier this month.

Many backers believe that they will see very little, if any, money recovered.

Winson Yee, a commenter on an unofficial Zano Facebook group, wrote, “Even if there is any leftover after paying liquidators, they will pay creditors first. Unfortunately, backers are investors, not creditors, we are at the bottom of the repayment list, so do not dream of getting a single cent back.”

Kickstarter's terms of service only provide general guidelines if such a project falls apart. "The creator is solely responsible for fulfilling the promises made in their project. If they’re unable to satisfy the terms of this agreement, they may be subject to legal action by backers," the site says.

David Gallagher, a Kickstarter spokesman, noted that the crowdfunding platform is not responsible for projects that do not come to fruition. “The short version is that Kickstarter is a home for creative projects and a new way for people to work together to make things,” he e-mailed Ars earlier this month. “It's not a store. Creating something new can of course involve unexpected obstacles. We encourage project creators to be transparent with backers about any problems they run into on the way to completing their projects.”

Below is the original promo video that Torquing Group released as part of its Kickstarter campaign.