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WriteThat.Name's New Chrome Extension Updates Your Address Book Or CRM With Contact Info Found Online
After a little bit of rough start, the automatic address book updating service WriteThat.Name has become one of my preferred “set it and forget tools” for keeping things organized. Built by Paris-based Kwaga, WriteThat.Name is one of those under-the-radar technologies which doesn’t get a lot of media attention, but is slowly approaching profitability with over 40,000 paying users and revenue growth of over 15 percent month-over-month.
For those who missed it the first time around, the company last year launched a service which tackles an area in need of more attention and solutions: the address book. While a number of companies, including LinkedIn, Brewster, Cobook and recent Yahoo acquisition Xobni, have built standalone apps meant to replace default address books on mobile devices, WriteThat.Name is less focused on the user interface (that’s still your call), and more on the content – that is, the actual names, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses and more that fill out a user’s contact info.
Initially, I’ll admit I was not thrilled with Kwaga’s product. After glowing reviews on the web promised a marvel, I was disappointed to find it engaging in some spammy techniques involving emails sent on your behalf which you couldn’t opt out of without paying. But credit where credit is due: the company immediately responded to these concerns, and stopped that behavior. I signed up and have been using it ever since.
Here’s how it works: you either authorize the service on your Gmail account, or install an Outlook plugin, and choose one of the company’s plans. There’s a free tier for those who just want to check it out, and others are priced reasonably at $35 or $59 per year for additional features. WriteThat.Name will scan through your email automatically, then update your address book using the data found in senders’ email signatures. You can also buy an add-on called “Flashback” which will dig into the past year or five years of your email archives to get you all caught up.
Pricing for business users is also available, offering features like support for Google Apps, HighRise, and Salesforce, and more.
WriteThat.Name is not something you have to think much about, but it’s definitely a useful service to have on hand, especially since Gmail only adds email addresses to your Contacts list automatically, but then leans on Google+ for other user profile data, which many people don’t choose to share.
Today, the company is expanding beyond its more passive address book-scanning service with the launch of a Chrome extension. The new browser add-on lets you grab contact information from anywhere online – a LinkedIn profile, a Facebook Page, etc. – and add it to your address book, Salesforce (by year-end), Evernote, or other CRM program. In early testing last week, the extension was already installed 860+ times, and offers up to 42 contact updates without paying. Existing premium subscribers can use the extension at no extra cost.
The company today has just ten people working in both Paris and London, but is thinking now about how it can continue to move toward profitability – a goal it’s currently expecting to hit before next summer. After teaming up with French company Process One to run the Boxcar service (founder Jonathan George sold it to Kwaga last summer and has moved onto Evomail), the company is thinking about how WriteThat.Name could be integrated directly into Evomail itself.
In addition, the company will be doing a rebranding involving a name change, too, but isn’t planning on announcing that detail for a few more weeks. In the meantime, you can give the new Chrome extension a try here.
With 28M Users, Art Community deviantART Gets Strategic Funding From Autodesk
Online art community deviantART is announcing that it has received a strategic investment from software company Autodesk.
The financial terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed, but deviantART co-founder and CEO Angelo Sotira told me this makes Autodesk his company’s largest investor. Autodesk’s vice president of consumer products Samir Hanna will be joining the deviantART board of directors, but Sotira also said the deal doesn’t affect “control of the organization” (in other words, deviantART remains a founder-controlled company).
deviantART was founded in 2000, which wasn’t exactly a great time for startups looking to raise funding. Sotira said the company “had to get creative from the very early days,” and it didn’t end up raising a full outside round until 2007. He also noted that deviantART’s outside funding has come entirely from strategic investors: “That’s not a strategy, it just made the most sense.”
When asked about how Autodesk and deviantART might start working together, both Sotira and Hanna didn’t offer any specific plans, pointing instead to their shared mission of serving artists – deviantART with its community, Autodesk with software like Pixlr.
As the name suggests, deviantART isn’t a stuffy art community — the site showcases a pretty broad range of digital art, traditional art, photography, and more, sometimes wholly original, sometimes inspired by existing media properties. Sotira said the average user is under 24 years old, and Hanna described the site as “the coolest place for artists to show off and learn from each other.”
But what is Autodesk hoping to get out of the deal? Hanna said, “Sometimes what you get out of an investment or a partnership doesn’t have to be very tangible,” adding that what he really wants is to see the deviantART community grow and become more engaged. “If that happens, well, we have all sorts of tools that artists use. If they choose to use our tools, that’s great, but that is not something that we would be pushing for.”
As for how deviantART plans to spend the money, Sotira said it will allow the company to expand efforts such as “bringing the deviantART experience and full capability to mobile.” At the same time, he said the vision will remain the same: “This is all about making deviantART more devious, more deviantART.”
deviantART says it now has 27.8 million “deviants” (i.e., users) who have created 253 million “deviations”. It receives 2.5 billion pageviews each month, with 80,000 pieces of art submitted daily.
Mobile Browser Maker Dolphin Signs Strategic Partnerships With Yandex, Baidu, Yahoo! Japan And Duck Duck Go
Dolphin, the Sequoia Capital-backed mobile browser maker, has inked strategic partnerships with four search engines to drive its global expansion. They are Yandex in Russia, Baidu in China, Yahoo! Japan, each the top search engine in their respective countries, and Duck Duck Go, an anonymous search engine based in the U.S. Dolphin also released an update to its Android version that adds new content discovery functions and customization options tailored to different countries.
Most of Dolphin’s 80 million users are in the U.S., China and Japan, but the browser also counts Indonesia and India among its fastest growing markets. Edith Yeung, Dolphin’s Vice President of Business Development, tells me the startup wants to grab users in emerging markets by making it easy for them to access games, news, music and social networking services through the mobile browser. People who don’t have a credit card or limited data plans can bypass Google Play and native apps in favor of the Dolphin Web apps store, which includes offerings made by developers participating in the Dolphin Garage program.
“It doesn’t matter if they see Dolphin as a browser or an entertainment center. We want them to open it up and see everything they need to browse, play music or check sports,” says Yeung.
Dolphin is among several mobile browser makers focused on markets where many Internet users are skipping PCs and accessing the Web solely through their mobile devices, but strategies differ widely between companies. Several of Dolphin’s main competitors are focusing on hardware. For example, Mozilla partnered with Chinese manfacturer ZTE to make a Firefox OS smartphone, while Maxthon recently signed a deal with mobile chip maker MediaTek to preload its browser onto 100 million mobile devices.
Dolphin’s decision to partner with content providers instead of OEMs is part of a strategy to reach the younger users who are early-adopters of online services, says Yeung, as well as people in markets where smartphones are frequently sold without preloaded apps. In Indonesia, for example, many shoppers ask retailers to help them select and install apps onto newly purchased devices.
The latest update to Dolphin’s Android browser, which now supports 21 languages, lets users select custom themes, backgrounds and colors in the same way they would for their smartphone’s OS. The browser’s new vertical search options are tailored for different markets. For example, Korean pop music is popular in Southeast Asia, so Dolphin’s version for that region makes it easy for users to stream tracks. India’s built-in content, on the other hand, includes information about cricket scores and Bollywood movies.
Apple TV Gets Live MLS Games And Disney Junior Kids Content Via New Channels
Apple continues to roll out its staged partner additions, with two new channels appearing on the streaming media player today. The Major League Soccer channel brings soccer (or “football,” depending on how European you are) and the Disney Junior channel adds a third outlet for that media giant’s content to invade your Apple TV.
The Disney Junior channel requires authentication via cable providers to ensure you have a subscription that allows access to its live programming and on-demand shows, which is the same et up that Disney Channel XD and Disney Channel on Apple TV use. That’s similar to how its HBO offering operates, and content providers in general seem keen on this kind of arrangement for bringing content that used to be locked to cable co. set-top boxes to Apple’s streamer.
The MLS app provides scores and highlights for everyone who enjoys American and Canadian teams playing the sport where you kick a ball towards (or away from) a giant net on a big green field, whatever you choose to call that. It also offers access to live streaming matches via MLS Live, but you’ll need an annual subscription (starting at $14.99, with direct purchase through Apple TV available) to unlock that feature. The nice thing is that that covers an entire season’s worth of games, and also works on the MLS iPhone and iPad apps.
Apple is pretty much always adding new content and channels to the Apple TV these days, and clearly wants to make it a destination device for top-tier providers. It’s competing in a market that includes Roku and various built-in smart TVs from almost every OEM at this point, which have access to channel libraries that can number in the hundreds or even thousands, so building partnerships is a good idea at this point.
The Apple TV is getting lots of love lately from Apple, via a recent software update and a new feature that lets you setup a new streaming box with a simple tap of your iPhone or iPad thanks to the magic of Bluetooth LE. Rumors have been swirling about refreshed hardware coming soon, too, so it’s possible that’s why the company is lavishing so much attention on software of late.
Ford Buys Automotive App Maker Livio Radio For ‘Less Than $10M'
Ford Motors today is announcing the acquisition of Livio Radio, a maker of a platform for in-car apps, with a focus on audio and music services. This is the car-maker’s first technology acquisition in 13 years. The Ferndale, MI-based startup — now a subsidiary of Ford’s Global Technologies Group — will continue to operate under the original name. Neither party has disclosed the terms of the deal, only stating that Ford paid less than $10m for the in-vehicle app maker.
Ford CTO Paul Mascarenas says purchasing Livio Radio was about acquiring the “talented” 11-person team behind Livio Radio, the company’s intellectual property and the ability to forge a standard for automotive apps.
This is Ford’s first technology acquisition since October 2000 when it partnered with Qualcomm with the ill-fated Wingcast, a joint venture aimed at developing wireless data services for vehicles.
Exact terms of the deal was not disclosed. The two companies have been in talks since early 2013. Mascarenas indicated that the whole deal cost less than $10 million and funds were provided solely by Ford Global Technologies Group. Myine Electronics, LLC, doing business under the name Livio Radio, had raised $2.15 million in two funding rounds.
“We couldn’t do what Livio has already done,” Mascarenas said. “Their own intellectual property complement’s Ford’s App Link.
Right now, nearly every automotive OEM uses its own proprietary automotive application platform. Since pivoting from making Pandora radios over a year ago, Livio has been developing a universe platform aimed at bringing apps into cars.
“We connect smartphones to work with head units in automobiles,” Joey Gibson Livio Radio’s mobile tech room told me at CES 2013 (full interview below), adding that the company was attempting to get as many apps in the car as they can. At the time, this list included apps like Accuweather, TuneIn, Rdio and Grooveshark.
Livio’s founder and CEO Jake Sigal noted that this is a great opportunity to work towards an industry standard. Under the terms of the deal, Livio is still free to continue its work with other OEMs. Livio currently provides solutions for other automakers including General Motors with Sigal noting it’s easier to push the industry towards a standard if you’re not just some startup in metro Detroit.
CES 2013 Interview with Livio Radio
Mobile Deal-Finding App Shopular Raises $6.4 Million Series A From Sequoia
While most mobile applications today are heavily concerned with getting users to remember to open them regularly, mobile deal-finding application Shopular has been content to run in the background, alerting consumers to sales and discounts when they’re in a store or mall. Now, its focus on practicality over spammy behavior has paid off, in the form of a $6.4 million Series A round, led by Sequoia Capital. Sequoia’s Tim Lee will also join Shopular’s board of directors.
The startup had previously raised a seed round from Y Combinator and other angel investors, including Adam D’Angelo.
Shopular first emerged just ahead of the 2012 holiday season, after participation in Y Combinator’s Winter 2012 batch. Founded by former Shopkick engineers, Navneet Loiwal and Tommy Tsai, Shopular offers a different take on mobile deal-finding than their previous company’s solution. “We have a lot of respect for Shopkick for showing the world mobile can be used in novel ways for physical retail,” says Loiwal. However, the team wanted to build something that was more intuitive and logical for consumers. Where Shopkick is about rewarding users about walking into stores and making purchases, Shopular is tap on the shoulder letting you know why you should walk into a store.
The company uses its own proprietary technology to source deals, grabbing everything posted online, emailed offers, and even items posted to retailers’ Facebook Pages. It combines these into a deals database, which today includes deal info for a majority of retailers here in the U.S., from big names like Walmart, Target, Home Depot and others, down to speciality women’s clothing retailers, beauty brands, jewelry stores, kids’ shops, and more.
Consumers, meanwhile, can configure the app further by selecting their favorite stores, or opting in to hear about upcoming sales, but as Loiwal had previously explained, “the minimum you need to do is put the app on your phone. Forget about the app, and you’ll start saving money every time you go out shopping.”
Today Shopular works in 40,000 store locations across all 50 U.S. states, giving it coverage on nearly every mall, strip mall, or standalone big box store. Loiwal declined to provide user numbers or engagement metrics, however, only pointing at the app’s 10,000 some ratings on iTunes and Google Play, where it has a 5-star and 4.8-star rating, respectively. He also noted that Shopular’s demographics are 80 percent female, with two distinct groups – teenagers who spend a lot of time in malls, and younger, budget-conscious moms ages 25 to 35.
Up until now, the focus for Shopular has been on growing its customer base and store coverage, not revenue, but with the new funding, the company plans to take the next step which involves working with retailers directly. Loiwal says they’ve already begun running tests with select retailers on a feature which would allow the brands to communicate with shoppers via the app.
“Retailers have two main problems: getting foot traffic to their stores, and second, communicating with the consumer when they’re walking into the store rather than checking out,” Loiwal explains. Shopular will serve as middleman for those messages. The question the company is trying to answer now is how many conversions it can make for a business when it has the ability to reach out to the people around you. “We saw metrics that were on par on some of the big networks that were used to run the same promotion and the same time,” adds Loiwal of these early experiments.
Other things Shopular is keeping its eye on include retailer adoption of Apple’s iBeacon technology and user demand for an iPad-optimized version of the Shopular app. But the bigger focus will be on increasing the app’s personalization aspects, by taking advantage of all the data it has built up on consumer behavior over the course of the year. “We’re trying to understand you better through your use of the app, but also understand how similar you are to other users,” explains Loiwal. “And we’re working on something that could provide you value that goes on beyond the coupon,” he teases, but declining to provide details.
The startup has been running fairly lean with just a four-person team, but with the infusion of capital from Sequoia, it plans to hire at least nine people over the next few months, split between engineers and those in product design, marketing and sales.
Broadly speaking, app competes with not only Shopkick, but also other mobile deal finders including RetailMeNot, Jifiti (to some extent), couponing apps like SnipSnap, daily deals apps, and others.
An updated, more iOS 7-friendly version of the app is also poised to ship, but in the meantime, you can check out either the iOS or Android app here.
MakeSpace, A Dropbox For Real Life Storage, Launches In New York Today, Having Raised $1.3M
The phrase “storage unit,” brings to mind one of two things: high-volume drug deals, or a huge hassle. Either way, not good. A startup called MakeSpace is launching in New York today with the promise of making storage ridiculously convenient, by providing on-demand pick-up and drop-off to their storage facilities in Jersey City.
To get the operation off the ground, MakeSpace has raised $1.3 million from Upfront Ventures, Lowercase Capital, High Peaks Venture Partners, and Collaborative Fund. Founder and CEO Sam Rosen is Upfront’s first Entrepreneur in Residence, a program that Upfront partner Mark Suster wrote wasn’t really formalized until Rosen came along and pitched him and the team on MakeSpace.
As Suster explained in a January blog post, the EIR receives funding to work on his or her ideas in the Upfront offices, attends entrepreneur pitches and partner meetings, helps the Upfront team review a few deals, and get introduced to other entrepreneurs.
“The choice of how much VC work and how much start-your-company work you want to do is up to you,” Suster wrote.
With the New York launch of MakeSpace today, it seems that Rosen has spent a solid amount of time on the latter.
Here’s how it works. MakeSpace drops off bins at a customer’s residence and either waits half an hour for them to pack them, or schedules a pick-up at a later date. The content of the bins are labeled and MakeSpace records which bins belong to which person before they are stored. In order to get any boxes back, the customer just has to hit “Retrieve” on the site.
The cost for four bins, each of which occupy about three cubic feet, is $25 per month. Each additional bin is $6.25. Pick-ups are free, while deliveries cost $29.
The thinking runs a little deeper than un-cluttering houses, though. MakeSpace is meant to be something like real world cloud storage, like Dropbox for real life. A service like MakeSpace allows us to be less tied down by our physical possessions, Rosen explained. When you want to retrieve something, it should be as easy as pressing a button. There’s also the potential down the line to give friends access to MakeSpace storage, as though they were coming over to borrow something.
The idea is as dreamy as apparition. To make its service happen as promised, MakeSpace works with a family-owned warehouse in New Jersey that is also used by high-end retailers like Polo Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, and Michael Kors. They also have a $2 million insurance policy in place, which Rosen described as one of their biggest expenses, to protect customers’ stuff and any employee accidents while carrying the boxes.
The startup has a van ready to fulfill pick-ups in the city, and Rosen said that their tech team is working on route optimization on the back end to help things run more smoothly. One van probably won’t hack it if MakeSpace takes off, though, and Rosen says they have access to other cars as demand grows.
Rosen said he isn’t worried about scaling MakeSpace’s operations, having brought Brandon Arbiter of FreshDirect on board as an advisor to help with driver logistics. The warehouse, too, can handle almost 1.5 million bins, he said.
“The awesome thing about how we can grow is that we start to use logic in our booking system to limit when customers do pick-ups, or charge a premium for a desired spot… There’s a lot we can do programmatically to manage our flow of pick-ups and drop-offs. We’re confident that we can use tech to scale that.”
Rosen’s previous and now-shuttered startup, SpeakerGram, participated in the first class of 500 Startups.
This Week On The TC Europe Podcast: Paris Gets A Supersized Incubator, Tesco Does A Tablet & Valkee Flogs In-Ear Light
After a short hiatus, during which most of TechCrunch’s Europe-based writers packed their laptops and took off for San Francisco (for Disrupt 2013), the TechCrunch Europe Podcast is back to chew over a few choice nuggets of regional tech news.
On the slate this week, Paris getting its own supersized incubator: aka 1000startups — a massive startup factory that’s backed by Free CEO Xavier Niel. Our own resident Frenchman, Romain Dillet, is on hand to comment, albeit he’s not entirely convinced of the merits of this très grandes model…
Also taking up air-time this week, retail giant Tesco’s Amazon-style move into own-brand tablets with Hudl – as a way to expand the reach of other digital services it’s been trying to sell to shoppers, along with their Tesco Basics’ baked beans.
We also touch on Finnish startup Valkee’s winter-blues targeting headset, which takes the form of a pair of light-emitting headphones. Does it work? Who knows. Might we feel like shining light deep into our ear canals, during a long, dark Scandinavian winter? Frankly, who wouldn’t.
Join host John Biggs, plus TC’s Natasha Lomas, Steve O’Hear and Romain Dillet to discuss all these topics, along with an aside on the finer points of European irony. Background sound effects courtesy of the most fastidious money-counter in Montenegro.
We invite you to enjoy our (quasi-)weekly podcast every Thursday.
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Intro music by Espanto.
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