How the Lily Drone became a cautionary tale for crowdfunding

Lily Robotics was once a promising and popular tech startup whose claim to fame was the world's first 'selfie drone' but now it's mired in a lawsuit and controversy.

Back in the spring of 2015, a video announcing a cheery looking drone camera had people in awe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMfTHHLbj5g

Just throw it up in the air, and the Lily camera would fly behind you - recording video and stills you as you skiied down a slope, rafted down a river, or just ran around, aimlessly. All for a starting price of $499.

Too good to be true?

Unfortunately, it was.

After lots of press and $34 million dollars in pre-orders... last week the company announced it was shutting down. The following day, The San Francisco District Attorney's office filed a lawsuit against Lily Robotics, alleging they faked and misled consumers with their promotional videos

For more on the company, their drone, and the case against them, Libby Denkmann spoke with CNET's Ashley Esqueda.

Lily Robotics was once a promising and popular tech startup whose claim to fame was the world's first 'selfie drone' but now it's mired in a lawsuit and controversy.

To hear the full segment, click the blue play button above.