Powa Technologies

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Powa Technologies
FounderDan Wagner
Headquarters
Heron Tower, Bishopsgate, London
,
United Kingdom
Products
Websitewww.powa.com

Powa Technologies was a technology company, based in the United Kingdom. It is known for its commerce, mobile commerce and e-commerce services. The company’s flagship product was the mobile application PowaTag. [1] In February 2016, investment company Wellington Management appointed professional services firm Deloitte as administrators of Powa Technologies. [2]

History[change | change source]

Powa was founded in 2007 by British businessman Dan Wagner. The company got the largest Series A funding round for a technology start-up at the time, collecting $76 million in August 2013.[3] The investment attracted the attention of David Cameron.[4]

In June 2014, Powa Technologies bought Hong Kong business MPayMe and its ZNAP technology. So Wagner suggested that Powa had a business value of $2.6 billion.[5][6]

In 2015, they announced that their planned LSE £1.6 billion float would be suspended until the year.[7] By early 2016, the company had run into financial difficulties, missing payments to staff and third parties.[8]

Its Hong Kong office did not pay its employees on time and its ex-employees within 7 days, with some employees having to seek help from the Labor Department. On 28 January 2016, Alessandro Gadotti became CEO of PowaTag in the effort of restructuring the business.

During his leadership, he also served as the Group's interim CEOs, supporting the process and the sale of the Group's companies. On February 19, 2016, Powa Technologies was transferred to management,[9] and on February 23, 2016, Powa Technologies made 74 of its London-based staff redundant.[10]

On 24 February 2016, Powa Technologies filed for bankruptcy and fired most of its employees.[11] Wellington Management, an investment firm, has appointed Deloitte Professional Services as PowaTag administrators. [12]

PowaTag[change | change source]

PowaTag was a technology for mobile payments and mobile application by Powa Technologies.[13][14] PowaTag was launched at a March 2014 event in New York by Powa CEO Dan Wagner.[15] It was reported that at the time of launch, more than 240 retailers had signed up to use the service. [16] However, later reports showed that most of the companies had only written non-binding Letters of Intent. [17]

  • Specifics

Thanks to the application, users could shop with a smartphone, where the payment and delivery data are tied to a specific smartphone device.[18] The app contained elements of QR code detection, audio recognition, and beacon technology.

Audio watermarks in the form of insensitive tones embedded within radio, commercials, or live broadcast events were detectable by the app, that taking users to a mobile commerce store where you could make a purchase.[19]

Related pages[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ Strauss, Karsten (13 September 2013). "The Secret Technology That Attracted $76 Million and Could Eat Amazon's Lunch". Forbes. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  2. ↑ "Powa: The start-up that fell to earth – BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
  3. ↑ Lunden, Ingrid (20 August 2014). "Powa Technologies Picks Up A $76M Series A Investment To Take Its Mobile Payment And E-Commerce Platform Large". TechCrunch. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  4. ↑ Burn-Callandar, Rebecca (21 August 2013). "Powa to create 250 UK jobs after major cash injection". Telegraph. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  5. ↑ Titcomb, James (12 June 2014). "Powa Technologies valued at £1.6bn after acquisition". Telegraph. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Phillips, Andrew Garcia. "The Billion-Dollar Startup Club". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  7. ↑ Ho, Geoff. "Powa Technologies puts float on hold as PowaTag is priority", Express', 1 February 2015. Accessed 28 October 2015.
  8. ↑ Powa Technologies missed staff and contractor payments
  9. ↑ Powa Technologies appoints Deloitte as administrators
  10. ↑ Bust London tech unicorn Powa makes 74 staff redundant
  11. ↑ CFO (2016-02-24). "Former U.K. Tech Darling Powa Goes Bankrupt". Ww2.cfo.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  12. ↑ "Powa: The start-up that fell to earth - BBC News". BBC News. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
  13. ↑ Strauss, Karsten (September 13, 2013). "The Secret Technology That Attracted $76 Million And Could Eat Amazon's Lunch". Forbes. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  14. ↑ "PowaTag looks to unlock the power of social in retail with 'touch to buy' triggers". Internetretailing. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  15. ↑ Hsu, Tiffany (March 4, 2014). "PowaTag e-commerce system debuts, aims to revolutionize shopping". LA Times. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  16. ↑ Russon, Mary-Ann (March 6, 2014). "Why Point and Click Retail App PowaTag Shunned NFC For Apple iBeacon". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 2014-10-10. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  17. ↑ Finance. "Powa Technologies: Most 1,200 PowaTag deals were 'letters of intent' - Business Insider". Uk.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  18. ↑ Vizard, Sarah (May 29, 2014). "Waitrose, Argos and Laura Ashley to allow shoppers to buy direct from ads". Marketing Week. Archived from the original on July 8, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  19. ↑ Burn-Callander, Rebecca (March 4, 2014). "Retail revolution will be PowaTag-ged". The Telegraph. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
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