Payments firm Tilt wilts
Tilt slides from view
Following Airbnb’s acquisition of crowdfunding and social payments start-up Tilt in February, it is now being wound down.
Tilt (formerly Crowdtilt) was built with the aim to allow groups and communities to collect, fundraise, or pool money online.
It was founded five years ago with high hopes. Its co-founder and CEO James Beshara said at the time its plan was to be “something like PayPal and Facebook” combined. Beshara is now director for group and social travel at Airbnb.
In 2015, it was valued at $375 million. This year, it had lost over 95% of its value and was sold for a lot less. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but various media sites report that sources say the value was “closer” to $62.1 million.
At present, its website informs users they will no longer be able to create any new send, request, collect or sell something campaigns. Users can initiate withdrawals for any collected funds to their bank account through the Tilt platform until 12 June 2017. Tilt will integrate its social payments into Airbnb’s product range.
Only last week, we reported on the demise of a UK-based payments firm, Helixion. That report also provides details on the deaths of many other companies competing in a crowded arena.
