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Gowalla (acquired by facebook)

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uuid000b7a1

Namestring
Gowalla (acquired by facebook)
Websiteurl
gowalla.com
Company typeenum
Private
Founded yearint
2007
Short descriptiontext

Gowalla is an Austin-based location-based social networking service founded in 2007, acquired by Facebook in 2011. It historically enabled consumer check-ins and location sharing, with current positioning around discovering regional attractions, municipal landmarks, and public parks.

Operating statusenum
Acquired
Ownership categoryenum
Headcount rangeband
11–50
akta.pro rankint
HeadquartersAustin, United States
HQ citystring
Austin
HQ countrystring
United States
HQ regionstring
North America
Markets served

Serves global market

Keyword5 values
location-based social networking, mobile check-in app, geosocial platform, local discovery service, consumer mobile app
Industry2 codes
1VIP Access & Skip-the-Line Experiences
CodeTHAJALACPrimaryYes
2Transportation & Access Services (Shuttles, Ferry Access, Scenic Drives Permits)
CodeTHAAAGACPrimaryNo
NAICS code2 codes
  • Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation487
  • Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Other4879
SIC code1 code
  • Services-Amusement & Recreation Services7900
Product category
Location-based social networking
Social media profiles1 record
Cost components5 values
Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
GTM typeB2C
B2C
Offering typeSoftware
Software
Core offering1 text field

Gowalla operated a location-based social networking service that allowed users to check in at physical locations via a mobile application, discover nearby regional attractions, municipal landmarks, and public parks, and share their whereabouts with friends. The service was a consumer-facing mobile social platform built around venue check-ins and local discovery.

Differentiator
Functional benefit
Problem solved
Product and service1 record
1Gowalla mobile application
CategoryLocation-based social networking
No data
Peers10 records
1Roadtrippers
TypeEmerging player
Description

Roadtrippers is a trip-planning and attraction-discovery platform that helps users find regional landmarks, oddities, and parks along routes - closely aligned with Gowalla's repositioned discovery and navigation thesis around attractions and parks.

2Lonely Planet
TypeBroad incumbent
Description

Lonely Planet is a long-standing travel-discovery and guidebook brand covering landmarks, parks, and regional attractions - comparable to the experiential-discovery aspect of Gowalla's repositioned offering but delivered primarily through editorial content.

3Atlas Obscura
TypeDirect peer
Description

Atlas Obscura is a discovery platform focused on unique attractions, landmarks, and experiences - closely aligned with Gowalla's described positioning around regional attractions, municipal landmarks, and public parks, and serving a similar experiential-discovery audience.

4Tripadvisor
TypeBroad incumbent
Description

Tripadvisor is a large incumbent in attraction discovery and reviews, directly comparable to Gowalla's described value proposition of helping individuals discover regional attractions and landmarks. It serves a far larger global audience.

5Komoot
TypeEmerging player
Description

Komoot is a route-planning and outdoor-discovery platform for parks, trails, and regional points of interest - closely aligned with Gowalla's stated focus on discovering and navigating public parks and landmarks, though more focused on active outdoor routing.

6Yelp
TypeBroad incumbent
Description

Yelp is a broader local-discovery and reviews platform covering restaurants, attractions, and landmarks - overlapping with Gowalla's repositioned focus on regional attractions and municipal landmarks, but with a much wider scope and established user base.

7Foursquare
TypeDirect peer
Description

Foursquare was the leading location-based check-in social network and Gowalla's primary direct competitor in the same product category, serving users who wanted to discover and check in to local places. Facebook notably chose to partner with Foursquare rather than develop Gowalla.

8AllTrails
TypeDirect peer
Description

AllTrails is a discovery and navigation platform for outdoor experiences including parks, trails, and municipal landmarks - directly comparable to Gowalla's stated focus on helping users discover and navigate public parks and regional attractions.

9Trippy
TypeEmerging player
Description

Trippy is a travel-planning platform for discovering attractions and building itineraries - overlapping with Gowalla's discovery of regional attractions and landmarks, though smaller in scale.

10Google Maps
TypeBroad incumbent
Description

Google Maps is a broad navigation and local-discovery incumbent that overlaps with Gowalla's navigate-to-attractions use case as part of a much wider mapping and directions platform, including extensive points-of-interest data.

Market position
Customer concentration

Classification, Details

Ideal customer profile1 record

Each record includes

Profile, Firmographic size, Sales motion, Sales cycle length, Buying structure, Purchase trigger, Buyer persona, Geography, Industry vertical, Primary use case, Description, Pain points, Evidence proof points, Target buyer

Technology focused
Yes
API detail
Has APIbool
No

Docs URL, Description

AI maturity
App detail

Has app

Core technology
Revenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Number of profiles
No data
No data
Funding overview

Funding stage, Last funding date, Total funding USD

Funding rounds2 records

Each record includes

Round, Amount USD, Date, Pre money valuation, Total investors, Investors, News

Investors7 records

Each record includes

Name, Type, Date of entry, Rounds participated, Website

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Each record includes

Name, Acquisition type, Announced date, Completed date, Status, Website, News

Investment

Each record includes

Name, Round, Announced date, Lead investor, Website, News

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Gowalla (acquired by facebook)

Location-based social networkinggowalla.com

Gowalla is an Austin-based location-based social networking service founded in 2007, acquired by Facebook in 2011. It historically enabled consumer check-ins and location sharing, with current positioning around discovering regional attractions, municipal landmarks, and public parks.

Gowalla (acquired by facebook) firmographics

Firmographics
Name
Gowalla (acquired by facebook)
Website
https://gowalla.com
Company type
Private
Founded year
2007
Operating status
Acquired
Headcount range
11–50 employees
Short description
Gowalla is an Austin-based location-based social networking service founded in 2007, acquired by Facebook in 2011. It historically enabled consumer check-ins and location sharing, with current positioning around discovering regional attractions, municipal landmarks, and public parks.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Gowalla (acquired by facebook) industry classification

Industry
Product category
Location-based social networking
NAICS
Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation (487), Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Other (4879)
SIC
Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)
akta.pro primary industry
VIP Access & Skip-the-Line Experiences (THAJALAC)
akta.pro secondary industry
Transportation & Access Services (Shuttles, Ferry Access, Scenic Drives Permits) (THAAAGAC)

Keywords

  • Location-based social networking
  • Mobile check-in app
  • Geosocial platform
  • Local discovery service
  • Consumer mobile app

Where Gowalla (acquired by facebook) is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city
Austin
HQ country
United States
HQ region
North America

Markets served

Gowalla (acquired by facebook) business model

Business model
GTM type
B2C
Offering type
Software
Cost components
Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Gowalla (acquired by facebook) product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Gowalla operated a location-based social networking service that allowed users to check in at physical locations via a mobile application, discover nearby regional attractions, municipal landmarks, and public parks, and share their whereabouts with friends. The service was a consumer-facing mobile social platform built around venue check-ins and local discovery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

  • Gowalla mobile application

Companies that use Gowalla (acquired by facebook)

Customer profile

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Gowalla (acquired by facebook) technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API
No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Gowalla (acquired by facebook) competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Emerging players

  • Roadtrippers: Roadtrippers is a trip-planning and attraction-discovery platform that helps users find regional landmarks, oddities, and parks along routes - closely aligned with Gowalla's repositioned discovery and navigation thesis around attractions and parks.
  • Komoot: Komoot is a route-planning and outdoor-discovery platform for parks, trails, and regional points of interest - closely aligned with Gowalla's stated focus on discovering and navigating public parks and landmarks, though more focused on active outdoor routing.
  • Trippy: Trippy is a travel-planning platform for discovering attractions and building itineraries - overlapping with Gowalla's discovery of regional attractions and landmarks, though smaller in scale.

Broad incumbents

  • Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a long-standing travel-discovery and guidebook brand covering landmarks, parks, and regional attractions - comparable to the experiential-discovery aspect of Gowalla's repositioned offering but delivered primarily through editorial content.
  • Tripadvisor: Tripadvisor is a large incumbent in attraction discovery and reviews, directly comparable to Gowalla's described value proposition of helping individuals discover regional attractions and landmarks. It serves a far larger global audience.
  • Yelp: Yelp is a broader local-discovery and reviews platform covering restaurants, attractions, and landmarks - overlapping with Gowalla's repositioned focus on regional attractions and municipal landmarks, but with a much wider scope and established user base.
  • Google Maps: Google Maps is a broad navigation and local-discovery incumbent that overlaps with Gowalla's navigate-to-attractions use case as part of a much wider mapping and directions platform, including extensive points-of-interest data.

Direct peers

  • Atlas Obscura: Atlas Obscura is a discovery platform focused on unique attractions, landmarks, and experiences - closely aligned with Gowalla's described positioning around regional attractions, municipal landmarks, and public parks, and serving a similar experiential-discovery audience.
  • Foursquare: Foursquare was the leading location-based check-in social network and Gowalla's primary direct competitor in the same product category, serving users who wanted to discover and check in to local places. Facebook notably chose to partner with Foursquare rather than develop Gowalla.
  • AllTrails: AllTrails is a discovery and navigation platform for outdoor experiences including parks, trails, and municipal landmarks - directly comparable to Gowalla's stated focus on helping users discover and navigate public parks and regional attractions.

Market position

Customer concentration

Gowalla (acquired by facebook) social profiles

Digital presence

Gowalla (acquired by facebook) financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Gowalla (acquired by facebook) leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Gowalla (acquired by facebook) funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Gowalla (acquired by facebook) M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gowalla (acquired by facebook)

What does Gowalla (acquired by facebook) do?

Gowalla operated a location-based social networking service that allowed users to check in at physical locations via a mobile application, discover nearby regional attractions, municipal landmarks, and public parks, and share their whereabouts with friends. The service was a consumer-facing mobile social platform built around venue check-ins and local discovery.

Is Gowalla (acquired by facebook) a public or private company?

Gowalla (acquired by facebook) is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.

When was Gowalla (acquired by facebook) founded?

Gowalla (acquired by facebook) was founded in 2007. It employs 11 to 50 people.

Where is Gowalla (acquired by facebook) based?

Gowalla (acquired by facebook) is headquartered in Austin, United States, in the North America region.

Who are Gowalla (acquired by facebook)'s main competitors?

Emerging players on record are Roadtrippers, Komoot and Trippy. Broad incumbents are Lonely Planet, Tripadvisor, Yelp and Google Maps. Direct peers are Atlas Obscura, Foursquare and AllTrails.

Does Gowalla (acquired by facebook) have an API?

No public API is recorded for Gowalla (acquired by facebook).

What industry is Gowalla (acquired by facebook) in?

Gowalla (acquired by facebook)'s product category is Location-based social networking. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAJALAC, VIP Access & Skip-the-Line Experiences, with a secondary code of THAAAGAC, Transportation & Access Services (Shuttles, Ferry Access, Scenic Drives Permits). Its NAICS code is 487 and its SIC code is 7900.

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Live signals
TechCrunchGowalla Co-Founder Scott Raymond Joins Airbnb’s Mobile Product TeamGowalla co-founder and former CTO Scott Raymond has joined Airbnb's mobile product team, approximately two years after his previous company was acquired by Facebook. Raymond will help expand Airbnb's mobile capabilities, which the company considers a priority as roughly 50 percent of hosts now use the mobile app and respond three times faster than desktop users. His experience building location-based travel features at Gowalla aligns with Airbnb's strategy of helping travelers discover and explore destinations beyond just booking accommodations.TechCrunchGowalla Co-Founder Josh Williams And Instagram Designer Tim Van Damme Will Leave Facebook In Unrelated DeparturesGowalla co-founder Josh Williams and Instagram designer Tim Van Damme are leaving Facebook in what appear to be unrelated departures. Williams, who previously built the Facebook Nearby feature after Gowalla's acquisition, will remain in San Francisco to start a new company, while details regarding Van Damme's next steps were not disclosed. The article notes that the Nearby feature has struggled to gain traction against competitors like Yelp and Foursquare since its launch.TechCrunchHands On With Facebook Nearby, A New Local Biz Discovery Feature That Challenges Yelp And FoursquareFacebook has launched a major revamp of its Nearby feature for iOS and Android apps, using friend data including Likes, check-ins, and recommendations to algorithmically rank and suggest local businesses such as restaurants, nightlife spots, and shops. The feature, built by the Gowalla team Facebook acquired last year, is rolling out to 1% of users and later to all users, positioning Facebook to compete with Yelp and Foursquare in local business discovery. The article notes the feature could eventually serve as a revenue stream for Facebook through sponsored placement ads, though no ads currently appear in Nearby.TechCrunchJosh Williams On Why Facebook Acqhired His Startup Gowalla To Put A “Nearby” Lens On 250M Geo-Posts Per MonthJosh Williams, former CEO of Gowalla, explains how Facebook's acquisition of his startup enabled the launch of Facebook's "Nearby" feature, which now leverages 250 million monthly location tags across the platform. The feature organises location data from users' friends—including check-ins, photos, and reviews—to help users discover places through a personalised social lens. Facebook plans future updates to integrate Facebook Events and third-party app content into Nearby, positioning itself as a competitor to Foursquare and Yelp by leveraging its existing social graph at scale.TechCrunchGowalla Went For $3M In Facebook Shares, And Many Investors Were Cool With ThatFacebook acquired location-based social check-in service Gowalla for $3 million in Facebook shares, according to two sources familiar with the deal. Multiple sources indicate that a majority of Gowalla investors supported the all-Facebook-shares structure, believing the shares would appreciate ahead of Facebook's anticipated IPO. Joint investors Sean Parker and Shervin Pishevar publicly stated they were satisfied with the outcome, though many Gowalla team members will not be moving to Facebook.Business InsiderFacebook Gets Gowalla Founders, But Gowalla Itself Is DeadGowalla co-founders Josh Williams and Scott Raymond will join Facebook's design and engineering teams in January. The Gowalla service will wind down, with no acquisition of technology or user data, though Passport data can be exported.TechCrunchGowalla Confirms It Will Shut Down As Founders and Team Members Join FacebookGowalla's founders Josh Williams and Scott Raymond, along with several team members, are joining Facebook's design and engineering teams in Palo Alto, while the Gowalla location-based social service will shut down at the end of January. Facebook is not acquiring Gowalla's user data or technology—the deal is a talent acquisition, with the $10.4 million invested in Gowalla likely yielding minimal returns for investors. The Gowalla team's expertise in badges, tips, and visual check-in content could help Facebook improve its Timeline and Places features, potentially strengthening competition with Foursquare in the location services space.TechCrunchGowalla Versus Foursquare: Why Pretty Doesn't Always WinGowalla, the geo-social app that launched at the 2009 SXSW conference, is shutting down as its founders join Facebook after losing the check-in wars to rival Foursquare, which recently passed one billion check-ins and has more than ten million users. The article attributes Foursquare's victory to its New York headquarters providing early network effects through urban density, while Gowalla was headquartered in Austin. Key success factors for Foursquare include focusing on core check-in functionality rather than overcomplicating the product early on, and early business development deals by executive Tristan Walker that brought major brands like Starbucks into the platform.TechCrunchFacebook Has Acquired GowallaFacebook has acquired location-based startup Gowalla, with the terms of the deal remaining undisclosed. The Gowalla team will join Facebook to work on Timeline, with most members relocating to Facebook's Palo Alto headquarters while some remain in Austin where Facebook maintains an office. The fate of Gowalla's existing app is undecided, and it's unclear whether this represents an acqui-hire or if Facebook is also acquiring the company's technology.TechCrunchGowalla 4.0, Their Bold Revamp Towards Travel And Stories Goes LiveGowalla has launched version 4.0 of its mobile app and website, representing a complete strategic pivot from a check-in service to a travel and location-based storytelling platform. The new apps went live for iOS and Android on September 22, following a preview at TechCrunch Disrupt by co-founder and CEO Josh Williams. The launch was strategically timed to avoid competition with anticipated announcements from major social networks.