Goodbye, Komoot? German app sold to Bending Spoons
There are apps that make a difference: For people who like to spend time outdoors, Komoot from Potsdam, Germany has always been a good option. Now the future may be unclear as the app is apparently being sold to Italy-based Bending Spoons, who have already bought WeTransfer and Evernote.
Considering Evernote and the app’s demise before and after the purchase, there are concerns as Bending Spoons is known to be tough on acquisitions - after the Evernote purchase, most of the staff were laid off and other acquisitions have been accompanied by layoffs as well. With that in mind, it’s no wonder that the 150 employees are worried about the near future, according to German magazine Wirtschaftswoche. Employees were informed of the deal on Thursday at an unscheduled meeting initiated by co-founder Markus Hallermann. It had already been announced that there would be redundancies while further enquiries were not permitted.
„From the deepest dirt track to the highest hiking trail, Komoot gets you there and back - and everywhere in between." - that was he slogan so far. The app was a great companion for many people - myself included - for hiking, biking or similar (outdoor) activities at a very high level, based on OpenStreetMap material and garnished with the loving precision of a 150-person startup. Komoot is an app that displays community-supported tours for hikers, cyclists and runners worldwide. Paired with the social networking-aspect, users can share routes, like or save trips, follow other users and create own trips even by importing .GPX-files. Markus Hallermann sees the sale as necessary for the app’s future prospects, stating: „What got us here will not take us to the next level,“ he writes in the press release. „Scaling a company requires a different mindset and different skills than building a company.“
The basic version of the app is free but unlocking additional features such as tracking and additional planning tools comes with a fee of EUR per month to go with the Premium-plan. According to the company, the application, which is available for iOS and Android, has 45 million users. It is not known how many of them are regularly active or even paying for a subscription but the current events may change the way users see the app, knowing that Bending Spoons hardly continued the path of the other apps before the acquisition: Finally, each invest must pay off sooner or later!
All in all, we may be curious to see what happens to Komoot and its community - personally (and with Bending Spoons’ past in mind) I am not very optimistic but time will tell and considering alternatives like OsmAndMaps or Organic Maps may be an option!