OnSwipe

Market position

Onswipe was widely covered as one of the more prominent companies to emerge from Techstars' first New York class and was described as a success story of that program. It reached roughly 5,000 publishers and, as of November 2013, 25 million monthly unique iOS visitors, but ultimately could not sustain itself financially and was sold in what its CEO privately characterized as a 'soft landing.'

Onswipe's stated differentiation was delivering an app-like tablet reading and advertising experience through the mobile web rather than through native apps, requiring minimal editorial effort — publishers switched the platform on and it organized content into a customizable, design-oriented, iPad-friendly format. Baptiste framed native apps as unsuitable for content and argued that making content look good on tablets would also allow advertising to look good. At acquisition, Onswipe was described as approaching the publisher market from the content supply side, complementary to Beanstock's Helix ad inventory management platform.

Technology

A hosted platform that plugged into publishers' content management systems and rendered their content as an HTML5, swipe-driven, app-like experience in the tablet browser, with customizable layouts and integrated full-page ad formats. Initially built for WordPress, with planned expansion to Movable Type and other CMS platforms, and later extended to smartphone-optimized site versions. Around 2013 the company undertook a full rebuild of its technology stack.

Go-to-market

Onswipe sold to web publishers ranging from individual bloggers to large media organizations, initially via a CMS plugin/turn-key activation model layered on WordPress. It gained early distribution and visibility through the Techstars New York accelerator and heavy technology-press coverage, including a Bloomberg TV reality show about the accelerator class. By 2014 it had a direct sales function that the acquirer specifically valued.

Web and news publishers of all sizes — from individual bloggers using platforms such as Posterous and WordPress to large newspapers — seeking tablet- and smartphone-optimized presentations of their content and advertising.

Geography

Headquartered in New York City; the company relocated its home base to New York in early 2011 in connection with the Techstars New York program. The acquirer, Beanstock Media, was a Silicon Valley-based company that sought a New York presence through the deal.

History

The product began as PadPressed, a WordPress plugin that made blogs look like native apps, described by co-founder Jason Baptiste as a precursor or 'university research project' relative to OnSwipe. In January 2011 the company rebranded to OnSwipe, relocated to New York and raised $1 million in seed funding in a 30-day process led by Spark Capital, with Betaworks and ENIAC Ventures and angels including Dharmesh Shah, Jennifer Lum, Roy Rodenstein and Wayne Chang. It joined the inaugural Techstars New York class in 2011 and was featured in a Bloomberg TV reality show about the accelerator class. In June 2011 press reported a $5 million round dubbed 'Series Awesome' involving Spark, Lightbank and Yuri Milner; TechCrunch later described a $5 million Series A led by Spark in 2011. Fortune reported total post-Techstars venture funding of $6 million from investors including Spark Capital, Lerer Ventures, Lightbank, SV Angel, Morado Venture Partners, Eniac Ventures, Thrive Capital, Apricot Capital, betaworks and Yuri Milner, followed by an undisclosed $5.3 million Series B led by QED Investors and Spark Capital in late 2012. In fall 2013 Jonty Kelt was brought in as CEO and Baptiste moved to chief marketing officer. A decision to rebuild the technology from scratch took longer than planned, revenue came in below plan and burn above plan; a failed new financing led instead to a $2 million convertible bridge note from Spark and QED in early 2014. In August 2014 the company was sold to Beanstock Media.

Risks & controversies

By 2014 Onswipe faced a cash crunch. A decision made roughly a year earlier to rebuild its technology from scratch took too long and, per CEO Jonty Kelt, 'caused a domino effect,' with revenues lower and burn higher than expected. An attempt to raise new capital failed, resulting instead in a $2 million convertible bridge note from Spark and QED to keep the company alive while it sought a buyer. Kelt's private note, obtained by Fortune, said sale proceeds covered only $3.4 million of venture debt plus the bridge note and produced no return for investors; Spark Capital partner Alex Finkelstein publicly disputed that characterization, saying the note was taken out of context and that Spark, other investors and employees received Beanstock equity in the deal. Onswipe declined to comment on the potential sale before it was confirmed.