Maker Media, a US-based specialist magazine publisher and event organiser spun out of media company O’Reilly, has suspended trading and dismissed its workforce amid financial difficulties, TechCrunch reported on Saturday.
Founded in 2013, Maker markets engineering and technology-orientated content including books, events and magazine Make, the latter of which was first published in 2005. Its content caters to both children and adults, encouraging them to undertake do-it-yourself projects designed to be educational and fun.
Maker currently has some 200 events in operation across more than 40 countries that are run either directly or through a third-party licensee.
The company’s 22 employees have been laid off without notice, though its management is reportedly keen to protect its events and the online Make archive, by pursuing a US alternative to bankruptcy known as an assignment for benefit of creditors.
Dale Dougherty, chief executive of Maker Media, told TechCrunch: “We are trying to keep the servers running. I hope to be able to get control of the assets of the company and restart it.”
O’Reilly Media’s corporate venturing arm, O’Reilly Alphatech Ventures (OATV), joined venture capital fund Floodgate to supply Maker with $5m in funding in 2013.
Both investors subsequently returned for a 2015 equity and debt round also sized at $5m alongside Obvious Ventures, Raine Ventures, Azure Capital and venture bank Square 1, the latter of which provided the debt portion of the round.