APPCityLife, an Albuquerque tech company that created tech tools for citizens of Albuquerque, plans to liquidate.
The company, founded in 2009, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection last week. It listed between $0 and $50,000 in estimated assets, according to the petition filed in New Mexico Bankruptcy Court.
The company reported $588,028 in liabilities. The largest unsecured creditor listed in the filing is Bryan and Patricia Bingham with a claim amount of $271,000.
Also included among the unsecured creditors are the IRS, owed $74,551, and the Bank of Oklahoma, owed $19,600.
APPCityLife has been a longstanding member of the Albuquerque startup scene, and has made an impact on the community. It has developed mobile applications that could help citizens more easily use municipal services. In 2018, the city unveiled the company's One Albuquerque application, which sought to centralize access to city departments and their services, making them more accessible. It also developed the ABQRIDE for the municipal transit system, allowing users to calculate fares and track buses.
The company also developed a permitting application for Bernalillo County, as well as an app for Roadrunner Food Bank and the Albuquerque International Balloon Museum.The company came up with an idea for an artificial intelligence-based chatbot designed to help immigrants access services, according to reporting from GovTech. Its founder and CEO, Lisa Abeyta, also worked to uplift women in tech, which is notorious for its low levels of female employment. She declined comment on the bankruptcy.
APPCityLife raised more than $1.6 million over the course of two funding rounds, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. In 2013, it acquired its longtime partner, OnQueue Technologies, which worked with cloud-based computing technologies. At the time of the deal, Abeyta said in a statement that APPCityLife had about 50,000 "active users on our platform" in the Albuquerque market.
In 2015, APPCityLife partnered with California software firm Accela Inc. to offer the tech company's CityLife platform, enabling city governments to design and deploy applications.
The company, which was a 2017 Business First Innovation New Mexico winner, has faced financial difficulties. Between October 2018 and March of this year, the company was hit with four federal tax liens totaling more than $140,000, according to records from the Bernalillo County Clerk's Office.
Abeyta previously said APPCityLife's financial situation stemmed in part from a capital commitment from a New Mexico-based investment group that fell through after she was told the funds had been wired, Business First reported.
