Essential Products, a consumer electronics start-up founded by the former Google executive Andy Rubin, said on Wednesday that it was ceasing operations, the New York Times reported. Once considered one of Silicon Valley’s most promising hardware technology start-ups, Essential had raised $330 million in outside funding because of the track record of Rubin, who is widely credited with creating Google’s Android smartphone software. But Essential, which was once valued at $1 billion, has struggled. It released a premium smartphone in 2017 that did not sell well, and it later scrapped plans to develop a smart speaker. Essential was also dogged by news about Rubin and the circumstances of his departure from Google. The New York Times reported in 2018 that Google had paid Rubin a $90 million exit package after claims of sexual misconduct with an employee were deemed credible. Rubin has denied the claims. In a blog post on the company’s website on Wednesday, Essential said that it had developed a new handset, but that there was “no clear path to deliver it to customers.”
