Pop-up retail agency We Are Pop Up fell into administration this week and is now up for sale.
The company, which has offices in London and New York, folded as it struggled to find new equity investors.
The sales process is being handled by administrators at Hatter Young.
Chief executive Nicholas Russell said: “We just weren’t able to access the capital. The property market functions in a different way and time horizon to other tech companies, which can make it difficult for those that straddle the line between property and tech.
“Another issue is seasonality. Our numbers increase in relation to the retail consumer cycle.”
Last year the business used crowdfunding to launch an online retail property letting platform, ShopShare, which is included in the sale.
Russell said: “The early economics are very promising, and someone who sees the value in the platform could carry it forward.”
Sources said the demise of We Are Pop Up could prompt caution from investors looking to put more cash into competing platforms. However, others said the platform itself had value and could be used for other purposes, such as serviced offices.
The UK pop-up retail market is valued at £2.3bn, according to a report published last year by EE and the Centre for Economics and Business Research.
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