Skip to content
Longterm Wiki
Back

Loopt Location App Sells To Green Dot For $43.4 Million Cash

web
TechCrunch·techcrunch.com/2012/03/09/loopt-acquired-by-green-dot/

Credibility Rating

3/5
Good(3)

Good quality. Reputable source with community review or editorial standards, but less rigorous than peer-reviewed venues.

Rating inherited from publication venue: TechCrunch

This article is tangentially relevant to AI safety primarily as historical background on Sam Altman's entrepreneurial career before his leadership roles at Y Combinator and OpenAI; it has no direct AI safety content.

Metadata

Importance: 8/100news articlenews

Summary

TechCrunch reports on the acquisition of Loopt, a location-sharing app and early Y Combinator startup, by Green Dot Corporation for $43.4 million in cash. The deal marked an exit for Loopt, which had struggled to gain mainstream traction despite being a pioneer in mobile location sharing. This acquisition is notable in tech history as it involved Sam Altman's early startup before he became president of Y Combinator and later CEO of OpenAI.

Key Points

  • •Loopt, a mobile location-sharing app founded by Sam Altman, was acquired by prepaid debit card company Green Dot for $43.4 million in cash.
  • •The acquisition represented a modest exit for Loopt, which had raised around $30 million in venture funding over its lifetime.
  • •Loopt was one of the first Y Combinator startups and an early pioneer in mobile location-sharing before competitors like Foursquare dominated the space.
  • •Green Dot acquired Loopt primarily for its talent and technology rather than its user base.
  • •This deal is historically notable as Sam Altman, Loopt's founder, went on to lead Y Combinator and later co-found/lead OpenAI.

Cited by 1 page

PageTypeQuality
Sam AltmanPerson40.0

Cached Content Preview

HTTP 200Fetched Mar 20, 202614 KB
[Skip to content](https://techcrunch.com/2012/03/09/loopt-acquired-by-green-dot/#wp--skip-link--target)

![](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/loopt-green-dot-big.png?w=298)

[Share on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Floopt-acquired-by-green-dot%2F)[Share on X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Floopt-acquired-by-green-dot%2F&text=Before+SXSW+Sunk+Its+Valuation%2C+Loopt+Location+App+Sells+To+Green+Dot+For+%2443.4+Million+Cash&via=techcrunch)[Share on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Floopt-acquired-by-green-dot%2F&title=Before+SXSW+Sunk+Its+Valuation%2C+Loopt+Location+App+Sells+To+Green+Dot+For+%2443.4+Million+Cash&summary=With+a+new+class+of+passive+location+apps+on+the+rise%2C+failed+geo-mobile+apps+of+the+past+need+to+cut+their+losses%2C+so+%3Ca+href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businesswire.com%2Fnews%2Fhome%2F20120309005422%2Fen%2FGreen-Dot-Acquire-Loopt%22%3ELoopt+today+announced+plans+to+sell+to+banking+and+payment+solutions+company+Green+Dot%3C%2Fa%3E%C2%A0for+%2443.4+million.+%3Ca+href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.greendot.com%2Fgreendot%22%3EGreen+Dot%3C%2Fa%3E%C2%A0hopes+checkin+functionality+can+help+it+attain+and+hold+on+to+customers+by+expanding+from+prepaid+cards+into+a+mobile+wallet.+And+it+needs+Loopt%27s+talent+to+stick+around+to+make+that+happen%2C+so+%249.8+million+of+the+cash+is+reserved+for+a+retention+pool.SXSW+starts+today+and+no+one+has+been+talking+about+Loopt.+Had+it+waited+until+after+the+event+and+watched+younger+competitors+revel+in+the+spotlight%2C+its+valuation+could+have+sunk%2C+so+this+was+wise+timing+to+sell.&mini=1&source=TechCrunch)[Share on Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Floopt-acquired-by-green-dot%2F&title=Before+SXSW+Sunk+Its+Valuation%2C+Loopt+Location+App+Sells+To+Green+Dot+For+%2443.4+Million+Cash)[Share over Email](mailto:?subject=Before+SXSW+Sunk+Its+Valuation%2C+Loopt+Location+App+Sells+To+Green+Dot+For+%2443.4+Million+Cash&body=Article%3A+https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Floopt-acquired-by-green-dot%2F)[Copy Share Link](https://techcrunch.com/2012/03/09/loopt-acquired-by-green-dot/)

# Before SXSW Sunk Its Valuation, Loopt Location App Sells To Green Dot For $43.4 Million Cash

[Josh Constine](https://techcrunch.com/author/josh-constine/)

6:20 AM PST · March 9, 2012

[Share on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Floopt-acquired-by-green-dot%2F)[Share on X](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%2Floopt-acquired-by-green-dot%2F&text=Before+SXSW+Sunk+Its+Valuation%2C+Loopt+Location+App+Sells+To+Green+Dot+For+%2443.4+Million+Cash&via=techcrunch)[Share on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2012%2F03%2F09%

... (truncated, 14 KB total)
Resource ID: 9eb603bcd6ee754a | Stable ID: YjIyMTgyZj