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Erick Schonfeld is a technology journalist and the former Editor in Chief of TechCrunch.
Gowalla Gets $8.4 Million Series B For Geo-Networking. Attracts
We agree that location is the new hotness, but it’s pretty amazing what a 10-week-old app with 50,000 users can haul in: Today Gowalla said it’s raised $8.4 million from investors Greylock Partners, Shasta Ventures, Maples Investments, Ron Conway, Kevin Rose, Gary Vaynerchuk, Shervin Pishevar, Jason Calacanis and Chris Sacca, plus existing investors Alsop-Louie Partners and Founders Fund (who’d previously put in $2 million). A release from the mobile social network said, “The capital infusion will be used to strengthen growth efforts and further enhance Gowalla’s development capability.” Let’s hope so! Sarcasm aside, it’s early days in the geo-web, so a big slug of funding from buzz-happy investors could be the strength Austin, Texas-based Gowalla needs. Direct competitor Foursquare , which said it had 60,000 users in October, has just $1.35 million in funding.
Everybody Loves Geo: Gowalla Adds $8.4M – GigaOM
For some time now, it has seemed like Foursquare was the only game in town. I mean “game” literally, as of the major location-based services, Foursquare seemed to be the only one really emphasizing gaming elements.
Gowalla Ups Its Game And Hints At Future Business Models
Vote: Will Europeans use Gowalla, FourSquare or what?
So it’s been nearly 10 days since Foursquare launched its social mobile game ‘ground assault’ into 50 more cities, including a bunch of European ones. But what I’d like to know is who’s actually using it here in Europe? Because, you see, Europeans are already quite well served by location based mobile applications like Qype , the various localised versions of Yelp, and other startups like Rummble .
Gowalla Raising Greylock
We've heard from three sources that Austin-based Alamofire Inc -- maker of iPhone app Gowalla -- is set to raise a big (~$8 million) round, led by Greylock. Gowalla is one of those iPhone apps for people who want to "check in" from a bar or restaurant and tell all their friends where they are hanging out. Gowalla's closest competitor is probably Foursquare. Gowalla is currently number 10 on Apple's list of top free social networking apps, though that could be due to Apple promotiing it. We've reached out to Alamofire for confirmation, but haven't heard back.
Millions of people click, click, click their way mindlessly through repetitive casual games like FarmVille every day. Such games spread like a virus, infecting Facebook news feeds and eating up big chunks of the precious little time on earth that players were blessed with before they face their inevitable, if temporarily forgotten, mortality. Josh Williams used to develop software like that. A graphic designer by training, his website for sharing iconography grew popular enough that he turned it into a game called PackRat.
.Gowalla is the Anti-FarmVille
Gowalla Gets A Spot On CNNMoney’s “Best Places To Live”
Erick Schonfeld is a technology journalist and the former Editor in Chief of TechCrunch. At TechCrunch, he oversaw the editorial content of the site, helped to program the Disrupt conferences and CrunchUps, produced TCTV shows, and wrote daily for the blog. He joined TechCrunch as Co-Editor in 2007, and helped take it from a popular blog to a thriving... → Learn More Location-based social network Gowalla is teaming up with CNNMoney for Money magazine’s annual “ Best Places To Live ” list.
As iPhone apps push out their updates to be compatible with the new iOS 4, most are focusing on adding simple fast app switching capabilities. Many are also giving their apps a quick new coat of polish to make them look a bit nicer on the new Retina display found on the iPhone 4. The location-based service Gowalla is focusing heavily on the latter. Version 2.2 of Gowalla, which just went live in the App Store, is the first version of the app that is iOS 4 and iPhone 4-compatible.
Gowalla Focusing More On Beauty With iPhone 4 — Will Users Be At
VirtualProduct Placements In Apple St
Erick Schonfeld is a technology journalist and the former Editor in Chief of TechCrunch. At TechCrunch, he oversaw the editorial content of the site, helped to program the Disrupt conferences and CrunchUps, produced TCTV shows, and wrote daily for the blog. He joined TechCrunch as Co-Editor in 2007, and helped take it from a popular blog to a thriving... → Learn More
Can Brightkite Beat Foursquare & Gowalla With a Universal Check-
Location based social network Brightkite plans to launch a universal check-in API that will let users update their information on competing services like Gowalla, Foursquare and others later this month at South by Southwest, we believe. In a poll we ran last night about competing location networks, Mark Krynsky, founder of Lifestreamblog and CheckInBlog , left the following comment: "I'd like to see a a multi-checkin service make its appearance at SXSW that would allow me to check into all 3 mentioned in the poll (more if possible) at once. Think Ping.fm for checkin services." Brightkite co-founder Martin May replied : "working on exactly that."Gowalla Gets "Food Wars" Passport Stamps
Gowalla users will be able to check in to locations featured on the Travel Channel’s Food Wars show, thanks to a new collaboration between the network and the checkin service. Food Wars , which pitches culinary rivals against each other to create “The Best Dish In Town,” will get specially created passport stamps that Gowalla users can collect at filming locations. After checking in to such locations, users will also be able to access specific show information, see the details of the culinary showdown that was filmed there and pick up items specific to the show.Real-Life Incentives
After recent announcements by Foursquare of partnerships with big time players like Zagat, the New York Times and Bravo , Gowalla is fighting back with its own major media partnership. Gowalla and the Travel Channel announced today that the two companies will be working together to offer "the integration of proprietary Travel Channel content into Gowalla's social networking service." Along with another deal, Gowalla has started to connect the virtual with the real, a direction we think will be key in succeeding in the location-based app arena. According to a press release , the agreement will begin with tomorrow's premiere of "Food Wars" on the Travel Channel. In much the same way that Foursquare began offering special badges and information on venues featured in Bravo's television shows, Gowalla will begin adding new features based on the locations in the show. Here's the company's explanation:webOS and Vies for Your Checkins with Free S
Foursquare is battling for your SXSW checkins with a musical scavenger hunt . Rival Gowalla is going to go after them with free gadgets — specifically free Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus devices as part of a promotion the location-based social networking service is unveiling in conjunction with their just-launched app for webOS. The app should hit the Palm App Catalog on Tuesday, and like the company’s applications for other platforms (including its recently launched Android app ) it detects your location to show you nearby venues, lets you know where your friends are located, and has a gaming element called “stamps” that can be accrued as you check in to various places. The SXSW connection is part of a push by Gowalla into virtual goods.Yelp CEO Denies Extortion Scheme
Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppleman has just released a passionate statement denying all wrongdoing on Yelp’s part, addressing a class action lawsuit filed on Tuesday that purports that Yelp is running an “extortion scheme.” In the statement, Stoppleman begins by addressing “the long history of people accusing Yelp of monkeying around with reviews,” and then follows with strong assertions that the company “would never do anything to jeopardize” their trust with users. He then concludes that Yelp will fight the lawsuit “vigorously, and we are confident we will prevail.”MG Siegler is a general partner at CrunchFund and a columnist for TechCrunch, where he has been writing since 2009. His focus is on Apple. Prior to TechCrunch, MG covered various technology beats for VentureBeat.