// startup autopsy

Lookery

Demographic marketing service that used Facebook data to deliver targeted product recommendations to website visitors.

platform dependencyFire Sale

Distressed acquisition below last-round valuation

Founded	2007
Closed	2009
Country	USA
Sector	Saas

50%

Key Events Timeline

2007-01

FOUNDING

Lookery is founded to provide demographic marketing services leveraging Facebook's platform.

2008-01

FUNDING

Lookery completes 2 funding rounds, raising $3.2M from 22 investors to scale its platform.

2008-06

CRISIS

Facebook redesigns its platform, eliminating the demographic targeting capabilities that Lookery's entire business model depended on.

2008-09

ACQUISITION

Unable to adapt to Facebook's platform changes, Lookery is acquired by ad serving company Adknowledge.

2009-12

SHUTDOWN

Lookery ceases operations after integration with Adknowledge.

Full Analysis

Analyst plan

Documented cause

Lookery's core service depended entirely on Facebook's platform for demographic targeting and ad delivery. When Facebook redesigned its platform in 2008, the company lost its primary value proposition and compe...

titive advantage. Rather than pivoting successfully, Lookery struggled to adapt and was ultimately acquired by Adknowledge as a fire sale exit.

Verified lesson

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HypeCycle · MoatType · ResearchTags

Lookery raised €3.2M and still failed. See the documented cause, verified lesson and all metrics.

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