Its pretty rare to see someone start up two companies right after dealing with a failed company.  But former Ugobe CTO John Sosoka is an exception.  Sosoka is starting a company called Vita Robotica and Pulse-Robotics.  Vita Robotica will develop a “completely new implementation of a brain for robots.”  Pulse Robotics will develop an operating system for robots.  Ugobe designed a small robotic dinosaur called the Pleo.  And Ugobe filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy back in April.

Just like the creatures that Ugobe Inc. models their toys after, the company may go extinct.  Ugobe makes the Pleo dinosaur robotic toy.  It received a lot of media coverage back in 2003 when the toy was first released.  Caleb Chung, inventor of the Furby founded Ugobe.  The Furby sold about 50 million units in the 90′s.

The Pleo sells for $350 which was too high for consumers.  In 2008, Ugobe made about $19.2 million in revenue, but that dropped to $209,000 in the first quarter of 2009.  The Chapter 7 bankruptcy was filed in Idaho where the company is based.  The company moved from Emeryville to Idaho last year.  Ugobe has $1.64 million in assets and $3.56 in liabilities.

The dinosaur Pleo toys have the ability to bark and shake.  They are intended to respond similarly to real pets.

The company previously raised three rounds of funding which amounted to about $23.75 million.  All of the venture capital companies involved with Ugobe were Asia-based.  The first round was $2.75 million by Frontier Management Group, First Round Capital, and Softbank China Holdings President Chauncey Shey.  The $8.5 million second round was by Maxima Capital.  And the third round $12.5 million was led by Hyield Venture Capital, a division of Foxconn.