Powa founder Dan Wagner has declared himself "bemused" by the failed payment firm's slide into administration, even as details emerge of its massive losses.
Despite once boasting it was worth $2.7 billion, Powa went into administration in February after its main financial backer, Wellington Management, called in £42 million in loans from a company with just £277,000 in the bank.
In a report published by administrators Deloitte on Friday, Powa's financials are laid out. The firm had revenues of just £1 million in 2014 and posted a £38 million loss. In 2015 things barely improved, with revenues of £4.9 million and losses of just under £32 million.
Yet in an interview for a BBC radio programme on so-called 'unicorns', Wagner declared himself shocked and "bemused" by Wellington's decision to call in the loan.
"It’s the business equivalent of walking across the street and being hit by a car. It is one of those things which sometimes happens which is completely random. It doesn’t necessarily reflect on what we were building, it doesn’t necessarily reflect on the capability or the experience or the management capacity to deliver value. It doesn’t necessarily reflect whether or not the valuation was right or wrong.
"Certainly in this case I can tell you it was just one of those extraordinary things that should never have happened."