// startup autopsy

ProtoGeo

Finland's movement tracker, absorbed by Facebook's data machine

acquisition gone wrongAcqui-hire

Fatal mistake: Moves was acquired by Facebook in 2014 and subsequently shut down in 2018, meaning the product's long-term fate was determined by the acquirer's strategic priorities rather than its own merits.

Founded	2012
Closed	2014
Country	Finland
Sector	Consumer

50%

Key Events Timeline

2012-01-01

FOUNDING

ProtoGeo founded in Helsinki, Finland, to build automatic smartphone-based activity tracking technology.

2012-11-01

PRODUCT LAUNCH

Launches Moves app on iOS, which rapidly gains global popularity as a seamless automatic activity tracker.

2013-06-01

FUNDING

Raises $1.6M in funding to scale the Moves app globally and expand to Android platform.

2014-04-01

ACQUISITION ATTEMPT

Facebook acquires ProtoGeo and the Moves app for an undisclosed sum, ending the startup's independent operations.

2014-05-01

SHUTDOWN

ProtoGeo ceases to exist as an independent company following the Facebook acquisition closing.

Full Analysis

Analyst plan

Documented cause

ProtoGeo developed Moves, an innovative automatic activity tracking application for iOS that achieved notable user traction in the mobile health and fitness tracking space. The startup was acquired by Facebook ...

in 2014, representing an acqui-hire transaction rather than a traditional acquisition where the product and company continue operating independently. In acqui-hire scenarios, the acquiring company pri

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€2.9M

Peak valuation

HypeCycle · MoatType · ResearchTags

ProtoGeo raised €1.6M before moves was acquired by facebook in 2014 and subsequently shut down in 2018, meaning the product's long-term fate was determined by the acquirer's strategic priorities rather than its own merits. ended it. See the documented cause, verified lesson and all failure signals.

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