Smart locks startup Otto Locks has announced it has had to cease trading.

In a blog, company founder Sam Jadallah announced to his readers, “It is with great sorrow to say we have suspended operations at Otto.”

The company had been developing smart locks for the domestic market, that may have resulted in e-commerce delivery companies being able to do in-door deliveries as a ground breaking electronic alternative to key and combination access to homes.

Jadallah said in his blog that the company was forced to cease trading after being messed about by a large ‘public company’. In his article he stated, “This past summer, we began fundraising for our next financing round. In early September, we were approached by a public company who understood the product we built, the engineering behind it, and the opportunity it represented. Initially they proposed investing, but quickly shifted the conversation to an acquisition.”

Being bought out is one of the major routes to success on the part of a startup these days, with very few minnows becoming sharks as the existing giants tend to buy them out and make their owners wealthy by return. This wasn’t the endgame for Otto, as Jadallah said in his article: “On December 11th, they called me and stated they would not complete the acquisition nor revisit the investment proposal. I was stunned. The reason is still not understood. We had extended our cash to get to the closing date, and now were left without alternatives.”