Three months after the acquisition of Gowalla by Facebook, the company has officially closed it doors. The screenshot below can be found on the location startup turned travel guide‘s homepage.
The termination is a timely one. The company was headquartered in Texas, home to SXSW, which is being held this week. The event is synonymous with the launch and promotion of location based startups including Foursquare, Gowalla’s slightly uglier big brother and now the location space’s clear winner. If there’s money to be made in the check-in space, the ball is well and truly in Foursquare’s court.
Gowalla launched in 2009 and raised approximately $10 million in funding from Greylock Partners and angel investors Chris Sacca, Kevin Rose and Jason Calacanis, amongst others. Facebook’s acquisition price hasn’t been disclosed but is rumored to be primarily Facebook stock and not an entirely satisfactory return for early investors. Calacanis penned a post claiming “the actual result of the small amount of money I invested in Gowalla is that I’m getting back less in the form of Facebook shares.”
If you forgot to delete your account prior to the acquisition, fear not, the Facebook acquisition did not include all of the data the company has collected on your whereabouts over the years. Facebook has enough of that already.
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Image Credit / Pro Cycle Works
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