Rod Buscher is the founder and CEO of Blinker, a Denver-based startup. (Courtesy Blinker)
A car-selling startup that parked its headquarters in downtown Denver has been sued by its former landlord.
Blinker Inc., which had its offices on the third floor of 1675 Larimer St. in LoDo, owes $277,000 in unpaid rent and related charges, landlord Laird Norton Cos. said in a lawsuit filed last week.
Blinker CEO Rod Buscher did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Laird Norton declined to comment.
The business, which Buscher co-founded in 2013, leased roughly 12,000 square feet at 1675 Larimer St. starting September 2018. Its lease was set to expire at the end of 2023, according to its landlord.
The lawsuit doesn’t make clear when Blinker first failed to pay rent. But Seattle-based Laird Norton said it first served Blinker with a notice of default due to a failure to pay on Oct. 2 of last year.
Two weeks later, on Oct. 16, the landlord demanded to be paid or given possession of the unit within three days, according to the lawsuit. In response, Blinker vacated the space, according to the landlord.
The landlord said Blinker failed to leave the space “in good, neat and clean order and well-maintained condition.” The company had installed a TV bracket and put vinyl on the walls, which made the landlord pay for “patching, painting, and related work,” per the lawsuit.
In addition to rent, the six figures the landlord said it is owed includes parking charges, interest and late fees, as well as the costs of addressing damages and “costs of reletting” the space.
CBRE lists Blinker’s office for lease. It’s a mostly open floor plan with two conference rooms and 11 individual offices for $28 a square foot.
The business launched a mobile app in 2016, which allowed users to list or buy cars with just a few clicks and signatures. That same year, the company was highlighted as a fast-growing company by the Denver Office of Economic Development, which said in a news release that Blinker had raised $35 million. In 2019, the company laid off approximately 20 of 55 employees, only to announce months later that it had raised $10 million.
The app was shut down in 2020 when Blinker, which had numerous patents, entered a five-year partnership with Cox Automotive, the parent company of Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book.
“No one does end-to-end transactions like the Blinker platform,” CEO Buscher told BusinessDen that year. “All the other platforms, they’ll have a listing but send you to a third-party site to get financing. It’s clumsy, and people don’t love it. We made (the process) very simple for them, and they love it.”
The status of Blinker’s operations are unclear. Phone calls to the number advertised on the company’s website go straight to voicemail. On Linkedin, several top Blinker executives appear to no longer work there. Spokespeople for Cox Automotive did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Attorneys Chad McShane and Samuel John of Robinson Waters & O’Dorisio are representing the landlord in the litigation.
Rod Buscher is the founder and CEO of Blinker, a Denver-based startup. (Courtesy Blinker)
A car-selling startup that parked its headquarters in downtown Denver has been sued by its former landlord.
Blinker Inc., which had its offices on the third floor of 1675 Larimer St. in LoDo, owes $277,000 in unpaid rent and related charges, landlord Laird Norton Cos. said in a lawsuit filed last week.
Blinker CEO Rod Buscher did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Laird Norton declined to comment.
The business, which Buscher co-founded in 2013, leased roughly 12,000 square feet at 1675 Larimer St. starting September 2018. Its lease was set to expire at the end of 2023, according to its landlord.
The lawsuit doesn’t make clear when Blinker first failed to pay rent. But Seattle-based Laird Norton said it first served Blinker with a notice of default due to a failure to pay on Oct. 2 of last year.
Two weeks later, on Oct. 16, the landlord demanded to be paid or given possession of the unit within three days, according to the lawsuit. In response, Blinker vacated the space, according to the landlord.
The landlord said Blinker failed to leave the space “in good, neat and clean order and well-maintained condition.” The company had installed a TV bracket and put vinyl on the walls, which made the landlord pay for “patching, painting, and related work,” per the lawsuit.
In addition to rent, the six figures the landlord said it is owed includes parking charges, interest and late fees, as well as the costs of addressing damages and “costs of reletting” the space.
CBRE lists Blinker’s office for lease. It’s a mostly open floor plan with two conference rooms and 11 individual offices for $28 a square foot.
The business launched a mobile app in 2016, which allowed users to list or buy cars with just a few clicks and signatures. That same year, the company was highlighted as a fast-growing company by the Denver Office of Economic Development, which said in a news release that Blinker had raised $35 million. In 2019, the company laid off approximately 20 of 55 employees, only to announce months later that it had raised $10 million.
The app was shut down in 2020 when Blinker, which had numerous patents, entered a five-year partnership with Cox Automotive, the parent company of Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book.
“No one does end-to-end transactions like the Blinker platform,” CEO Buscher told BusinessDen that year. “All the other platforms, they’ll have a listing but send you to a third-party site to get financing. It’s clumsy, and people don’t love it. We made (the process) very simple for them, and they love it.”
The status of Blinker’s operations are unclear. Phone calls to the number advertised on the company’s website go straight to voicemail. On Linkedin, several top Blinker executives appear to no longer work there. Spokespeople for Cox Automotive did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Attorneys Chad McShane and Samuel John of Robinson Waters & O’Dorisio are representing the landlord in the litigation.
