Kadoink
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Kadoink was a San Francisco-based mobile engagement startup founded in 2006. Its web-telephony platform integrated SMS, IM and voice into a single hosted system compatible with any carrier and handset. The company let bands create mobile widgets so fans could receive texts, calls and songs, and offered tools for phonecasting, audioblogging, microblogging, group communication and mobile advertising. It raised a $7 million Series A in January 2008 from Sutter Hill Ventures and angels.
02 / Kadoink FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Kadoink was killed by venture debt. After failing to reach sustainability, its venture-debt lender Hercules Technology Growth Capital seized the company: the company contacted more than 600 parties about an asset acquisition, received only 6 bids for its intellectual property, and the highest offer was insufficient to pay the secured lender in full. Hercules foreclosed on its collateral and sold the IP to a third party. CEO Scott Cahill confirmed the shutdown to investors in June 2009.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Liquidation
4 Jun 2009 quoting CEO Scott Cahill final investor email: after failed asset sale process (highest bid insufficient to pay secured lender), Hercules foreclosed and sold IP to a third party on 30 May 2009; investors get no return; company to be dissolved under state law.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
The company completed the sale of its assets on May 30, 2009, after contacting over 600 parties; 22 expressed interest and 6 bid for the intellectual property.
- 02
The highest bid was insufficient to repay the secured lender, Hercules Technology Growth Capital, in full.
- 03
Hercules foreclosed on its collateral and sold the company's intellectual property to an arm's-length third party.
- 04
CEO Scott Cahill confirmed the shutdown to investors on June 3, 2009; the company closed for good.