Selling out isn't always a bad thing, unless you're completely sold
It’s a hard life as a start-up. Some make it, some fall flat and others get bought for billions of dollars.
It can be a scry time, especially if the larger company looks to have its own agenda. Such was the worry during the Facebook acquisition of Oculus. Plenty of people were up in arms, worried that the social media giant would somehow ruin the VR headset. But it’s clear more money has helped the Oculus Rift speed along in terms of production quality, games and marketing.
Read next: The worst wearable crowdfunding campaigns
The same can mostly be said about Intel buying up Basis, ignoring those pesky Basis Peak recalls. And on a slightly smaller scale, you have the Kickstarter/Indiegogo campaigns that can’t meet their goals, or surpass them but can’t deliver. The companies, like the Agent Smartwatch, then up and disappear without a trace, and sometimes take the money with them.
But who are the real winners and losers of wearable manufacturers realising they can’t go it alone? Read on to find out…
WEAR – Misfit
Misfit sold out. But the $260 million by Fossil last year made a lot of sense. Misfit devices blend fashion with function, where Fossil was only starting to dip in tech. The aquisition offered a fantastic transfer of skills, opened up new markets to Misfit and the two companies have become a serious force in 2016.
Misfit has released the Misfit Ray and Speedo Shine 2 while Fossil’s on a roll with a whole roster of wearables with the latest being the Q Wander and Q Marshal, with Sonny Vu now at the helm. It doesn’t look like the partnership shows any signs of stopping and we’re excited to see what else they have in store.
NEARLY THERE – Jawbone
There’s a lot of rumors flying around concerning Jawbone selling out. A lot. Almost weekly. They bounce around between bankruptcy, selling off one division, to everything’s absolutely fine, nothing to worry about here officer.
There’s too much talk to ignore it all, and something is seriously wrong over at the company. Whether Jawbone sells to the highest bidder or slowly transitions out of the spotlight, it looks like the writing on the wall is trying to tell us something. Perhaps Jawbone will go the way of the Nike Fuelband and focus on its great software?
SQUARE – Skully
Unfortunately Skully is the most recent casualty of crowdfunding gone wrong, and it could lead to a lot of faithful supporters losing a lot of cash. The startup behind the $1,500 augmented reality motorcycle helmet raised $2.4 million for its Indiegogo campaign back in 2014. Then there were delays; missed deadlines; disappointed funders. Backers were even told they would get their prize by September of this year.
Instead, Skully filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy as its CEO and founder Marcus Weller walked out of the company. That probably mean backers won’t be getting their money back any time soon, or at all. Fail.
