Last month Techvibes reported on a tip that Richmond-based EQO Communications had downsized from 35 employees to 12 - GigaOM and F@$kedStartups covered our news as well. Turns out we were right as EQO CEO Bill Tam weighed in on the GigaOM post and confirmed the layoffs but empasized that EQO user growth was strong and the cuts were only due to the economic environment.
Times are tough, as you pointed out. Our growth has actually been very strong – 2 million users, doubling every 8 weeks and growing revenue. Cutting back wasn’t ideal, but doing so lets us operate at near profitability and support our customers and partners until the smoke clears. Given the current financial environment, we felt it was the prudent thing to do.
Now word on the street is that EQO is closing down as of the end of November as their investors aren't willing to double down on this losing hand - VCs aren't big fans of destruction of wealth and EQO's financings to date totalled $13 Million.
This recent news doesn't come as much of a surprise as there has been chatter over the last couple weeks that EQO was for sale. I guess they couldn't find a buyer.
To corroborate this newest rumour - EQO's webmaster has removed the Management page from the EQO website (old version vs. new version). Curious.
We’re EQO (pronounced “echo”), a well-funded start-up that helps people stay connected around the world using their mobile phone. We’ve... [more]
Rob Lewis
Rob is the President of Techvibes Media Inc. and Editor-in-Chief of Techvibes.com.
His diverse background includes stints in International Trade Finance, Web Development, and Enterprise Software and he is a graduate of the University of British Columbia, British Columbia Institute of Technology, and Simon Fraser University.
When not blogging on...[more]
