Mobile couponing startup Prixing has sold the bulk of its technology (IP), business contracts, user database & mobile apps to HighCo, one of France’s leading print & web couponing services. The deal, made for an undisclosed amount, includes “everything but the team and the equity,” says co-founder Thomas France, and comes after the company raised €1.75 Million at a €8 Million valuation. HighCo previously acquired mobile couponing PromoLand in June of 2013 – the PromoLand team will presumably take over the development of Prixing.
Meanwhile, alongside co-founder Eric Larchevêque, Thomas France says the company will quickly be releasing a new product, named Flink, which is the result of a realization last year that the M-Couponing space, and, more largely, the Shopping 2.0 space, is largely bogged down by traditional players and constraints.
The startup’s new product, an iPhone app named Flink set to launch later this week, revolves around fashion & product discovery. Having played around with it for a bit last week, it feels a bit like “Mindie for Fashion;” the app makes good use of the full-screen photo trends made popular by Mindie & Front-Back. While the goal is eventually to enable fashion watchers to purchase clothing based on what they see in the photos, in its first iteration Flink will curate photos from top fashion blogs, redirecting mobile traffic back to the Fashion sites.
The terms of the deal are not exactly clear, but what seems even less clear is the fate of its investors, who, at last count, owned roughly 20% of the company. Since HighCo didn’t purchase an equity stake in the startup behind Prixing (now being called Shopelia, according to LinkedIn), the investors are still on board for Flink & other yet-to-be-announced projects that Thomas says the team is working on.