Zirtual is an on-demand virtual assistant company that went belly up and then miraculously recovered, acquired at the last minute by one of its customers.
The firm expanded too fast and reached costs that became too much to handle. Unable to raise new funds to keep its head above water, Zirtual went belly up and, on Monday, Aug. 10, it notified its customers, employees and associates that it was halting operations.
The move took everyone by surprise, as there was no prior warning or announcement. Nevertheless, a savior came through and revived the firm in the 11th hour. One of Zirtual's customers decided to acquire the company and resume operations immediately.
More specifically, Startups.co, the parent company of various services such as Clarity, Lanchrock and Fundable, has acquired Zirtual for an undisclosed sum in an all-stock transaction.
As Startups.co explains, Zirtual's management went for a strategy to expand the firm ahead of demand, but this involved spending more money than they had. The management tried to obtain more capital to support this strategy, but ultimately failed at the last minute. Consequently, Zirtual was forced to halt operations.
The company offered no prior warning because founder and CEO Maren Donovan fought until the last minute to capitalize the firm and avoid a shutdown, believing he could make it.
"Over the weekend, Maren worked to exhaust all options to secure funds and waited until the very last minute (start of business Monday) to cease efforts," Startups.co explained.
One day after Zirtual gave the bad news, Startups.co announced on Tuesday, Aug. 11, that it has entered a deal to acquire Zirtual altogether. The company is reportedly working directly with Donovan to transfer all Zirtual operations to Startups.co and aims to resume service by Monday, Aug. 17 at the latest.
In the following weeks, Startups.co will work to complete the transition, but it may take a while to get everything coordinated. Existing customers can send an email to returnto@zirtual.com or call (800) 997-9714 to reactivate their account and connect with their Zirtual Assistant (ZA).
It remains unclear, however, whether customers will still be able to work with their previous ZA. Startups.co says that "ideally" this will be possible, as it is collaborating with the entire ZA staff to re-engage all of them.
At the same time, customers will receive credit for any paid time that went unused. The reimbursements will vary depending on the last paid plan level. It's worth pointing out that Startups.co cannot offer cash refunds directly, but customers can get in touch with their bank or credit card company to charge back the existing outstanding amount.
Startups.co further notes that it will most likely not be able to retain all Zirtual employees, as the firm employed more than 400 people. No additional details are available at this point regarding layoffs, as Startups.co has to thoroughly assess the situation and decide how many Zirtual employees it can keep.
