Evaluating only Sense360’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Competition as the #1 likely cause. Documented cause: Platform dependency.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
Eli Portnoy founded Sense360 in Los Angeles to build behavioral intelligence from smartphone sensors.
FUNDING
Raised $18M Series B to expand restaurant and retail chain analytics contracts.
REGULATORY ACTION
Apple's iOS 14 privacy changes cut mobile sensor data collection accuracy by over 60%.
SHUTDOWN
Medallia acquired Sense360; original sensor analytics product abandoned in favor of survey-based model.
Full Analysis
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Documented cause
Sense360 raised $25M to build a consumer behavior analytics platform using smartphone sensor data to track foot traffic and purchasing patterns for retail and restaurant chains. Apple's iOS 14 privacy changes in 2020 devastated the company's data collection model, cutting the mobile panel accuracy by over 60%. In 2021, Medallia acquired Sense360 for an undisclosed amount. The platform was restructured into a survey-based product, abandoning the original sensor analytics approach entirely.
Lesson
“Building a data business on top of platform-controlled signals is building on sand; policy changes can be fatal overnight.”