WillItSurvive
Enterprise and productivity software · absorbed · United Kingdom

Height

height.app ↗

Defunct AI project management tool that shut down September 2025 after $18.3M raised.

Little protection left
Assessed 22 July 2026 · Evidence as of 22 July 2026
Not much stands between this business and its pressures.
On the recordSince 22 July 2026 · Checkable from unscheduled · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Founder Michael Villar could launch a new venture, none reported yet
The call

Height raised $18.3M, pivoted hard to AI-native project management in October 2024, and shut down completely eleven months later with no buyer.

Height built software to manage work projects using artificial intelligence to automate tasks. The company could not survive because larger rivals like Asana and ClickUp added their own AI features, and Height's shift to focus entirely on AI in late 2024 actually made the product worse for users while the bigger companies caught up anyway. The one thing that might have changed the outcome was if Height had built something so specialized or locked-in that the incumbents could not easily copy it, but autonomous AI reasoning turned into a commodity feature that any well-funded company could add.

Why
01
AI pressure: None apparent. Height is already offline, there is nothing left for AI to eat, its own AI pivot preceded the shutdown. Could AI do the core job? Yes, likely.
02
Bigger players: None apparent. Asana, Atlassian, ClickUp, and Linear outlasted Height, but the company is gone, so there is no ongoing contest. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. None. Height shut down entirely on September 24, 2025 with no acquisition and zero headcount.
What would change this call
Michael Villar announces a new startup or joins another company publicly. Would show whether he re-enters project management or pivots to a new regulated vertical.
Any acquirer emerges to buy Height's remaining IP, code, or brand after shutdown. Would indicate residual value existed despite the full shutdown.
Asana, ClickUp, or Linear cite migrating former Height customers in earnings or case studies. Would confirm incumbents directly absorbed Height's user base.
Key numbers
  • $18.3M total funding raised (2021-09-29)
  • ~20 employees before shutdown (2024-11-28)
  • Service went fully offline (2025-09-24)
Named risks
  • Company ceased all operations September 24, 2025, resulting in total loss for investors who put in $18.3M. Severity: high
  • No structural moat existed, letting Asana, Linear, and ClickUp replicate AI-PM features within about a year. Severity: high
  • October 2024 AI redesign introduced unwanted automations and lost edit history, driving user churn pre-shutdown. Severity: medium
  • Small integration ecosystem versus Jira and Asana limited enterprise stickiness before shutdown. Severity: medium
Rivals, as read in July 2026
RivalDirectionEvidence
Asanalosing toAsana shipped AI Teammates agentic features by late 2025 while Height shut down September 24, 2025
Linearlosing toLinear shipped native AI agents on every plan by 2026, undercutting Height's 'autonomous PM' positioning
ClickUplosing toClickUp Brain AI add-on (~$9/user/month) available while Height ceased operations entirely by Sept 2025
Atlassian (Jira)losing toThird-party review (June 5, 2026) cited Height's integration ecosystem as smaller than Jira's
Shortcut (formerly Clubhouse)gaining onShortcut markets itself as the closest replacement for departed Height users post-shutdown
Questions people ask
Is Height still operating in 2026?
No. Height announced its shutdown on March 24, 2025, and the service went fully offline on September 24, 2025, with no acquisition. The company had raised $18.3M total funding, including a $14M Series A led by Redpoint Ventures in September 2021.
Did AI replace Height, the project management startup?
Height itself tried to become the AI replacer, launching 'Height 2.0' on October 8, 2024, as an autonomous PM tool. Instead, larger incumbents like Asana, Linear, and ClickUp shipped comparable AI features within about 12 months, and Height shut down September 24, 2025.
Was Height ever profitable?
No revenue figures were ever publicly disclosed for Height, and no third-party financial data exists. The company operated as a privately held, venture-backed startup with $18.3M total funding raised before shutting down entirely on September 24, 2025.
Who was Height's biggest competitor?
Height competed against Asana, Atlassian's Jira, ClickUp, and Linear, all far larger incumbents. A third-party review flagged Height's integration ecosystem as 'smaller than mature tools like Jira or Asana' as of June 5, 2026, a weakness cited in its decline before shutdown.
Who owns Height now?
Height was never acquired; no acquisition by another company has been reported. Founder Michael Villar, previously co-founder of Kickoff (acquired by Stripe in 2013), led Height until it wound down operations completely on September 24, 2025.
What happened to Height's customers after the shutdown?
Former Height customers migrated to alternatives like Shortcut, Linear, and Asana, per multiple 2026 'Height alternatives' roundup articles still being published as of June and July 2026, months after Height's September 24, 2025 shutdown.
Timeline
  • 2025-09-24Height service goes fully offline; company ceases operations with no acquisition
  • 2025-03-24CEO Michael Villar announces Height will sunset the product by September 2025
  • 2024-11-28Interview describes Height's global team at approximately 20 people
  • 2024-10-08Height 2.0 launches, billed as 'first-ever autonomous project collaboration tool'
  • 2023-04-24Height introduces Copilot AI features: automated standups, chat summaries, catch-ups
  • 2021-09-29Height closes $14M Series A led by Redpoint Ventures, opens public access
  • 2019-08Height enters private beta
  • 2018Height founded by Michael Villar
Revision history
22 July 2026
First assessed. Little protection left. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
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