Motricity
Encyclopedia
Motricity was formed in 2001 by Ryan Wuerch to provide integrated mobile content
solutions for handheld and mobile device
s. Originally formed as PowerByHand, the company changed its name to Motricity in October 2004 after its merger with Pinpoint Networks. The name Motricity is a portmanteau of the words mobile and electricity.
The company currently has over 300 employees and is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington
, with offices in Morrisville, North Carolina
and London
.
companies, including PalmGear.com in October 2002, eReader.com in September 2003, and PocketGear.com, and Smartphone.net in March 2004.
In April 2004, PowerByHand merged with Pinpoint Networks, a provider of software and services for the management and delivery of mobile data services.
In October 2004, the company changed its name to Motricity and announced the acquisition of Mobile2Day.de, a Europe
an mobile content portal.
Motricity later sold off these acquired units, with the smartphone applications business going to the newly created Pocketgear, Inc. in June, 2008, to focus the company on mobile content delivery services.
These rounds raised the company's total funding to over USD$150 million, one of the largest amounts of capital ever raised by a private company in North Carolina.
Additional funding came from Carl Icahn
in the form of USD$50 million in March 2007 and another USD$50 million in October of that same year. This last was part of a USD$185 million round of funding. Advanced Equities Inc. raised its investment by another USD$100 million, adding to its USD$50 million already invested.
The total raised by this point in time was reported to be USD$405 million.
for a reported USD$135 million. The initial strategy of the company was to leverage the Fuel storefront solution with the newly acquired mCore mobile portal solution to present a total solution for mobile providers.
Shortly after the InfoSpace acquisition was completed, Motricity found that the mCore storefront acquired from InfoSpace was more technically appealing, and decided to move forward with that solution. This was followed shortly by the announcement that 250 employees based in Durham would be laid-off, and the corporate headquarters moved to Bellevue, WA, leaving approximately 100 employees remaining in Durham.
10 per share.
Mobile content
Mobile content is any type of media which is viewed or used on mobile phones, like ringtones, graphics, discount offers, games, movies, and GPS navigation. As mobile phone use has grown since the mid 1990s, the significance of the devices in everyday life has grown accordingly...
solutions for handheld and mobile device
Handheld device
A mobile device is a small, hand-held computing device, typically having a display screen with touch input and/or a miniature keyboard and less than . Early pocket sized ones were joined in the late 2000s by larger but otherwise similar tablet computers...
s. Originally formed as PowerByHand, the company changed its name to Motricity in October 2004 after its merger with Pinpoint Networks. The name Motricity is a portmanteau of the words mobile and electricity.
The company currently has over 300 employees and is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
, with offices in Morrisville, North Carolina
Morrisville, North Carolina
Morrisville is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, United States. A small portion of the town extends into Durham County. The population was 18,576 according to a April 1, 2010 census. Morrisville is part of the Research Triangle metropolitan region...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Corporate history
In 2001, Wuerch founded PowerByHand, a company that provides content, information and education for hand-held and mobile devices. PowerByHand acquired a number of commercial InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
companies, including PalmGear.com in October 2002, eReader.com in September 2003, and PocketGear.com, and Smartphone.net in March 2004.
In April 2004, PowerByHand merged with Pinpoint Networks, a provider of software and services for the management and delivery of mobile data services.
In October 2004, the company changed its name to Motricity and announced the acquisition of Mobile2Day.de, a Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an mobile content portal.
Motricity later sold off these acquired units, with the smartphone applications business going to the newly created Pocketgear, Inc. in June, 2008, to focus the company on mobile content delivery services.
Private Funding
- USD$27 million in July 2004, led by Silicon Valley-based Technology Crossover Ventures;
- USD$30 million in July 2005, from ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
–based Advanced Equities Inc., as well as such existing investors as Technology Crossover Ventures, New Enterprise AssociatesNew Enterprise AssociatesNew Enterprise Associates is a global investment firm focused on venture capital and growth equity investments. With approximately $11 billion in committed capital, NEA is among the largest venture firms. The firm invests in three broad industry sectors: information technology, healthcare, and...
, and Intel Capital; - $40 million in April 2006, led by Advanced Equities Inc., with participation from other existing investors, including New Enterprise Associates and Technology Crossover Ventures;
- USD$32 million in August 2006, led by Advanced Equities Inc., with participation from other existing investors.
These rounds raised the company's total funding to over USD$150 million, one of the largest amounts of capital ever raised by a private company in North Carolina.
Additional funding came from Carl Icahn
Carl Icahn
Carl Celian Icahn is an American business magnate and investor.-Biography:Icahn was raised in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York City, where he attended Far Rockaway High School. His father was a cantor, his mother was a schoolteacher...
in the form of USD$50 million in March 2007 and another USD$50 million in October of that same year. This last was part of a USD$185 million round of funding. Advanced Equities Inc. raised its investment by another USD$100 million, adding to its USD$50 million already invested.
The total raised by this point in time was reported to be USD$405 million.
Acquisition of InfoSpace Mobile Division and Future Direction
The October 2007 round of funding was used in large part to finance the January 2008 acquisition of the mobile division of Seattle based InfospaceInfoSpace
Infospace provides metasearch and private-label Internet search services for consumers and businesses.InfoSpace's flagship metasearch site is Dogpile; its other consumer brands are WebCrawler, Nation, DoGreatGood and MetaCrawler.-History:...
for a reported USD$135 million. The initial strategy of the company was to leverage the Fuel storefront solution with the newly acquired mCore mobile portal solution to present a total solution for mobile providers.
Shortly after the InfoSpace acquisition was completed, Motricity found that the mCore storefront acquired from InfoSpace was more technically appealing, and decided to move forward with that solution. This was followed shortly by the announcement that 250 employees based in Durham would be laid-off, and the corporate headquarters moved to Bellevue, WA, leaving approximately 100 employees remaining in Durham.
IPO
On January 22, 2010 the company filed for a $250 million IPO. The company went public on June 18, 2010, offering 6,000,000 shares at US$United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
10 per share.