Conigital, a West Midlands-based autonomous vehicle technology company that announced it had raised half a billion pounds in 2023, has appointed a liquidator as it winds down.
Revealed in Companies House filings, Conigital – named so as a portmanteau of connected digital – filed a special resolution that said the company be wound up voluntarily.
Craig Povey and Mark Malone from Begbies Traynor have been appointed as liquidators of the company.
Conigital’s CEO Don Dhaliwal claimed in a LinkedIn post in September 2023 that the company had secured a “landmark” £500m funding offer from an unnamed global private equity firm.
The funding round was reported in the media and added to investment tracking site Dealroom among others, however, a UKTN investigation in 2024 revealed there were serious doubts over the existence of the funding.
UKTN found that, far from securing £500m, the company was in fact unable to pay a number of its staff, with multiple employees successfully being awarded damages in employment tribunals.
Conigital’s statement of affairs following the appointment of liquidators reveals it owes more than £3m, whilst holding estimated total assets available for preferential creditors of just £33,600.
Its creditors include the Future Fund, a government business loan scheme, which is owed £594,070, HMRC, which is owed £571,610 and Malta-based KMC Ventures, which is owed £500,000.
Founded in 2015, Conigital launched to retrofit commercial vehicles with autonomous driving technology.
Read more: Doubts over autonomous vehicle startup’s £500m funding as staff go unpaid