Electric vehicle maker Canoo Inc. (Nasdaq: GOEV) has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and will cease operations immediately, becoming another casualty among EV companies that went public through SPAC mergers during the sector’s boom.
The seven-year-old startup, which owes creditors more than $164 million against $126 million in assets, announced late Friday that talks with “foreign sources of capital” had failed, as had attempts to secure funding from the US Department of Energy’s Loan Program Office.
The bankruptcy comes just weeks after Canoo furloughed its remaining workers and halted production at its Oklahoma facility. The company had just $700,000 in cash reserves by mid-November.
Canoo joins a growing list of bankrupt EV startups that went public via special purpose acquisition companies, including Electric Last Mile Solutions, Fisker, Lordstown Motors, Proterra, Lion Electric, and Arrival — whose assets Canoo acquired in 2024.
Despite a potential deal with Walmart for up to 10,000 vehicles announced in 2022, and partnerships with NASA and the US Postal Service, Canoo struggled to deliver more than a handful of its distinctive electric vans to customers in 2024.
Founded in late 2017 by former Faraday Future executives, Canoo developed a modular electric vehicle platform. The company pivoted from consumer sales to commercial fleets under CEO Tony Aquila, whose financial firm provided recent loans secured by the company’s Oklahoma City equipment.
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