Loopt

Loopt was a company based in Mountain View, California, United States which provides a service for smartphone users to share their location selectively with other people (see location-based service).

Loopt supported the phones iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Windows Phone. The Loopt services had more than five million registered users and partnerships with every major U.S. mobile phone carrier. Loopt applications offer a variety of privacy controls. In addition to the core features of Loopt, users also had the ability to integrate Loopt with other social networks, including Facebook and Twitter.

The company was founded in 2005 and received initial funding from Y Combinator. Loopt has completed Series A and B financing led by Sequoia Capital and New Enterprise Associates. Loopt board members include TiVo-founder Mike Ramsay and Greg McAdoo of Sequoia Capital.

In March 2012 Loopt agreed to be acquired by Green Dot Corporation.

History

Loopt began with seed funding from Y Combinator, a venture firm specializing in early stage startups. That summer, Stanford sophomores Sam Altman and Nick Sivo worked to build the first prototype of Loopt. They were later joined by Alok Deshpande as well as two of Sam’s childhood friends, Rick & Tom Pernikoff.