Creditors to bendable smartphone developer Shenzhen Royole Technologies have filed a bankruptcy petition for the company, reports Nikkei Asia. The request was accepted by a Shenzhen court on May 15, recently released court documents show.
Royole was founded in 2012 by CEO Bill Liu, who studied electrical engineering at Tsinghua University and Stanford University. It unveiled the world’s first foldable smartphone in 2018, beginning mass production the following year.
The Shenzhen startup drew strong interest as a rising star, beating out Samsung Electronics and other industry giants in technology development. At one point, it was among the most promising Chinese unicorns that included DJI—the world leader in drones.