What's happening with uTANGO?

The startup launched in fall 2006 with a loyalty shopping reward program for young couples. Now a local public relations firm is suing the company for breach of contract, saying it owes more than $10,000 in payments.

UTANGO founder Jim Miller said, "They filed a lawsuit because we were behind in our payments. Beyond that I can't comment." 

He said the company is still in business.

"We're still operating with all the merchants still in place, all the members still in place. It's still operating just as it has for two years," Miller said.

He added: "We're making adjustments to operating expenses. We're adjusting our burn rate and making some changes on our products. We're finding ways to operate more efficiently," but declined to elaborate.

Barokas Public Relations filed the lawsuit against Afiniti Ventures, the company that operates uTANGO, on Nov. 25 in King County Superior Court.

Howie Barokas, founder of the PR firm, said, "BPR (Barokas Public Relations) operates under the mantra of PR minus the BS, which is don't say one thing and do another. And making a commitment to pay a bill and not paying it is BS, especially when the promised payment is one year past due."

The website for Afiniti Ventures boasts a colorful board of advisors including politician and former football player Jack Kemp; entrepreneur Terry Drayton, CEO of troubled startup Count Me In; sex expert and UW professor Pepper Schwartz; and Martin Tobias, former CEO of biodiesel company Imperium Renewables and founder of a new startup called Kashless.

Miller said he doesn't use the board of advisors on a regular basis and the advisors aren't immersed in the day-to-day business of uTANGO (He said Tobias is no longer an advisor). Miller said uTango has "several employees," but wouldn't specify how many. He said he's the only member of the company's board of directors.

UTANGO offers young couples various cash rewards for loyalty shopping with participating merchants (couples must remain married to stay in the uTANGO program). The reward plans include annual, 10-year, 20-year, 30-year plans and can go up to $1 million in the 30-year plan. UTango on its website lists Home Depot, Nordstrom, Starbucks, Target, Zales, Expedia.com, and Barnes & Noble as merchants.

UTANGO reportedly raised $1.1 million in late 2006 from angel investors in Seattle, San Francisco and New York. The Seattle P-I explored uTango's business model in a Feb. 2008 story, with Miller at the time saying uTango had between 15,000 and 50,000 members.

[Editor's note: Post updated with extended quote from Howie Barokas.]