Seattle startup Experticity ceases operations after eight years |
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Seattle startup Experticity ceases operations after eight years
Experticity, one of the longest-running tech startups of Seattle's post dot-com era, is calling it quits, after trying unsuccessfully to weather the recession by cutting most of its staff and going into "hibernation mode" for the past year, according to its chief executive.
The company, which specialized in technology for live, video-based customer service, sales and support, had been gaining significant traction with retail stores and other partners prior to the economic crisis of late 2008 and 2009, when "everything stopped," said founder and CEO DL Baron in an email to TechFlash.
"Retailers not only ceased all new initiatives, they fired all the people we were working with in the new initiative departments," he said. "The offers and interest we had for acquisition by large partners likewise evaporated. We tried over the last year to continue to operate in hibernation mode, letting go the majority of the 15 people we had on the team, and hoping for a change in the market, but it has not happened."
He concluded, "We continue to believe that live on-screen customer service will be the way of the future but it is unlikely to happen in a big way before 2012-2014, and that is a bridge too far for us."
Baron made it official on Thursday, formally ceasing operations of the company. He's now looking for another startup in need of computer hardware. The company has the infrastructure for a 20-person operation, which Baron said he would like to invest in a worthy startup.
Experticity was founded in late 2001. See this 2005 story to get a sense for where the company had been headed. Experticity had raised $1.2 million in angel financing at that point, later followed up by $2.7 million in startup capital from Portland Trust and Jammbid Partners.
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