loopt

Loopt was a mobile location-based social networking service founded in 2005 in Mountain View, California. It allowed users to see friends’ locations on a map, share status updates, and discover nearby people and venues. The service ran on smartphones and early mobile devices and relied on GPS data to provide proximity-based features such as check-ins and friend discovery. Loopt aimed to connect digital social networks with physical proximity, a concept that predated later apps like Foursquare.

The company was started by Sam Altman and collaborators, and it attracted funding from venture capital and the Y Combinator accelerator. It grew as mobile internet access expanded and location-aware services gained popularity.

In 2012, Green Dot Corporation, a fintech company, announced it would acquire Loopt for about $43 million. The acquisition closed later that year, and the Loopt consumer service was subsequently discontinued. The Loopt platform’s technology and team were integrated into Green Dot’s offerings, and the Loopt brand was retired.

Legacy: Loopt is remembered as one of the early, high-profile location-based social networks and as part of the early career of Sam Altman, who went on to become president of Y Combinator and later a notable tech investor and entrepreneur. The Loopt case is often cited in discussions of the evolution and consolidation of mobile social apps and location data usage.