Filmloop
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
FilmLoop was a Palo Alto photo-broadcasting startup established in 2004 by Kyle Mashima (ex-Adobe VP of Strategic Development) and Prescott Lee (founder of social network eCircles). Its Direct-to-Desktop software let users broadcast, find, and share digital images from the desktop — 'loops' of photos reviewed for content, supported by advertising, pitched as what Life Magazine was for photography. Backed by Garage Technology Ventures, Globespan Capital Partners, Fuse Capital, and Western Technology Investment, it raised $5.6 million in February 2005. After pursuing three business strategies without finding customers, the company was sold to storage company Fabrik for $3 million in December 2006 — a fire sale pushed by investors after a $7 million ComVentures round.
02 / Filmloop FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
FilmLoop burned through three business strategies without ever finding paying customers. After a $7 million round from ComVentures, investors lost patience: with about $3 million still in the bank, they forced a sale. No buyers emerged at a real valuation, so the company was effectively euthanized — its remaining cash and assets folded into fellow ComVentures portfolio company Fabrik for a reported $3 million in December 2006.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Acquisition
lead investor ComVentures used drag-along rights to force FilmLoop to find a buyer by year-end 2006; Fabrik then acquired FilmLoop for about the ~$3M cash left in the bank after ~$11.5M raised, described as a fire sale; founders/employees received nothing under liquidation preferences.
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
Kyle Mashima (ex-Adobe) and Prescott Lee (eCircles founder) established FilmLoop in Palo Alto in 2004 to broadcast photo 'loops' directly to the desktop, ad-supported.
- 02
The company raised $5.6 million in February 2005 from GlobeSpan Capital Partners and Garage Technology Ventures, later adding ComVentures ($7M) and others.
- 03
FilmLoop cycled through three business strategies and still failed to get customers; with its future looking dire, investors pushed for a sale and no real buyers emerged.
- 04
In December 2006 the company's remains — about $3 million in cash and assets — were folded into storage company Fabrik, another ComVentures investment, in what the press called an euthanasia rather than an acquisition.