Can I get unemployment if my business failed?

simple answer is NO

No. If you are the owner or principal of the business, you cannot draw any Unemployment Insurance benefits because it would be deemed that it's your fault that the business failed. It doesn't matter whether U.l. taxes were paid on your salary or not, you are still disqualified. It's a quirk in the law, but even though a president of a company's salary is reported and paid taxes on, he is still exempt from U.I. benefits because it's considered his fault that the company failed. I know this may sound crazy and unfair, but that's the law. Sorry.

Did you pay into the Unemployment system for yourself as an employee? The unemployment system is not paid for by the government, but rather is more of an employment insurance system, like life or car insurance, where the premiums paid by employers qualify their employees for coverage.