Loopt (YC S05) acquired by Green Dot for $43.4M

by Alexis Ohanian3/9/2012

Mobile location start-up Loopt will be acquired by the banking company Green Dot, best-known for its prepaid cards.

The deal is worth $43.4 million in cash, though that includes $9.8 million set aside in retention payments for key Loopt employees.

Loopt’s products are to be shut down at an unspecified date, while its 30 employees will now comprise Green Dot’s Silicon Valley-based mobile product development team.

In a phone interview this morning, Loopt CEO Sam Altman described the deal as an opportunity to make location more accountable. “We’ve been doing cool stuff with deals, offers and loyalty, but we haven’t had a way to tie that to payments. Now, instead of being about check-ins, it can be about payments.”

Congrats to Sam Altman, Alok Deshpande and the whole Loopt team!

Author

  • Alexis Ohanian