AC JumpStart Client joins Silicon Valley startup as they expand into Waterloo Region
The AC is excited to share that AC JumpStart Client Pout has been acquired by San Francisco-based Everalbum. The announcement was made this morning by Everalbum Co-founder Andrew Dudum.
“This acquisition is part of a company wide effort to build the most seamless, mobile first photo experience on iOS and Android,” said Dudum. “Today, we strengthen that ability by adding some of the best design and engineering minds to our team. Pout’s vision for a community of fashion conscious users was to help them explore their unique sense of fashion through photos. ”
Pout was created by engineer Laura Smith and designer Riley Donelson as a way of building and fostering a community of people who are passionate about beauty and fashion, allowing them explore, discover and share their experiences, styles and techniques through photos and videos. The app has already found great success, striking a chord with both users and large brands in the fashion industry.
Pout began in the University of Waterloo’s Velocity program, and subsequently joined the second cohort of Accelerator Centre’s AC JumpStart program to help grow and scale their business to a broader audience.
The acquisition process began when Donelson traveled to San Francisco to begin exploring and learning about funding options for Pout. He arranged lunch with a former University of Waterloo classmate, who invited Dudum to join them as another friendly connection. While his classmate had to cancel, Donelson and Dudum decided to go ahead with the meeting and quickly discovered many commonalities in their companies’ ambitions, passions, and experiences.
Everalbum is unique combination of a productivity-app and a cloud-storage solution, whose aim is re-imagine the experience of the family photo album; capturing, storing, and allowing people to share their memories.
Donelson and Dudum continued to stay in touch, and after a few months, Dudum mentioned Everalbum’s desire to establish a second office in Waterloo Region due to the strength of the ecosystem and the talent pool. Everalbum moved into Kitchener’s Lang Tannery building in November and talks about acquiring Pout quickly ensued.
“We’re proud that this acquisition continues our relationship with the Waterloo tech community, said Donelson. “Pout joins a list of successful startups emanating from University of Waterloo, Velocity, Communitech, and the Accelerator Centre. We’re excited to continue the movement started by our tech peers, like Google, Kik, and Shopify, in establishing a Canadian ecosystem which we are proud to be a part of.”
“We’re really excited to join Everalbum,” says Donelson. “From the beginning it’s been an amazing fit with Andrew and the team, and this will allow us to take Pout to a whole new level.”
Smith and Donelson will join the Everalbum team in Kitchener, working on getting to know the Everalbum team and continuing to grow the Pout community and brand on a global scale.
About AC JumpStart
AC JumpStart is a one-year funding and mentorship program designed to help companies accelerate their business growth. The program offers $30K in funding and $10K worth of mentorship from our team of in-house experts. Apply.
