Last (and first) time we wrote about Finnish stealth startup Fruugo, we feared that they might be stumbling right before their expected launch at the upcoming SIME conference. The company was rumored to be burning heaps of cash and laying off staff at a rapid pace before an actual product was ever released to the public.
That on itself is extraordinary, considering that Fruugo is assumed to be backed by tens of millions of euros, employs a workforce of around 100 people (they all sign NDAs when they get on board) and its board of directors has been joined by people like Nokia’s former CEO Jorma Ollila, and F-Secure Founder/Chairman Risto Siilasmaa. But Fruugo ended up not launching anything at SIME, building up even more anticipation (or hype, whichever) for their imminent social shopping platform / virtual marketplace.
Fortunately, local tech blog ArcticStartup is following the developments closely and has announced this morning that Fruugo is now in closed beta mode. One of the bloggers was invited to their offices this week and was shown a preview of the service, which the company seems to be having trouble with labelling (”Janne Waltonen, VP Marketing & Communication, mentioned that they have not really figured out yet what to call Fruugo”).
According to ArcticStartups:
What Fruugo wants to do is to make it simple and safe to sell and buy things online across the Europe regardless of the country borders. The transaction participants should be able to complete the transaction just if they were in the same country, using their local currency and language.
More information is provided in this blog post.
They also shared some screenshots for the live beta service, which is subject to change on both a functional and design level as it’s still being actively developed. Here they are:
More screenshots can be found on Fruugo’s Flickr stream.
Good stuff from ArcticStartup, and there’s more:
Touring Fruugo:
http://www.star...ands-on-review/
Fruugo’s biz potential:
http://ekana.wo...kick-the-panda/
We may be looking at the biggest thing since sliced…
Fruugo? Social shopping. Fruugin already developed. It’s called Amazon.
I’ve bought plenty of product across borders in Europe on Amazon. Why would anyone use a startup who will have higher prices, lower service, and fewer recommendations and reviews?
http://smartbab...xy.blogspot.com
I’ve been using http://www.froogle.com for years.
hmmmm….
freefreebiefinder.com
I don’t get it, are they really trying to duplicate the worst parts of Ebay?
Can we get a TC post highlighting how much more superior the Android SDK is than the iPhone SDK from a developer’s perspective. Such as the IDL, the services, and other enhancements iPhone does not have. Could we also get a mention about the Android SDK improvements in cupcake since that has been rolled into the trunk?
Along with an ETA on the cupcake rollout to G1 users by T-Mobile?
Cupcake includes using the onboard camera to record video. The API should be exposed in the Android Java/Davlik package. That means TONS of live video streaming apps on G1 phones.
Yo nerdlinger, this ain’t Usenet. Translate before typing.
Yeh, wouldn’t want to talk technical on a tech site. You must write for TC.
Looks like this is more about fixing currency/language issues (like across countries in Europe) than about using social networks for shopping. We’ll see.
Wish them luck. Are there any other similar sites serving EU countries? would they ship to the UK?
And here we go! Social Networking is taking over. Now, if they get it right hopefully it won’t just be some .com thing.
i might want to get rid of the animal cruelty shenanigan.
That little stock hamster image probably cost a couple thousand… but yeah, I agree, lose it
great idea, but i suspect it might be a candidate for a TM infringement lawsuit from Google.
Dear Professionals,
I am a undergrad student and I have developed a breakthrough solution.I developed many proposals and send to many companies ,no esponse.
Please guide me how to make some company to read your propsoal(unsolicited)?
What is right method?
Hey Robin you say that this Fruugo is a highly anticipated social shopping service. Exactly who is highly anticipating this service, because I sure as hell have never even heard of them.
I find these type of sites take away value from professional ecommerce websites, unless of course they are selling the web owners products for free as a service..
I have read about a few different sites lately that have millions in start-up capital to develop the next great technology – but sadly, nothing ever comes from these sites. There is a new shopping mall site I heard about called MallCrawl (www.mallcrawl.com) that has a novel concept in that it links together all shopping malls across the country and enables users to comment on the malls and their products and deals. It’s being developed by a couple friends without venture capital. Who knows, maybe this is the route to take when coming up with the next big idea?
Here is a link to MallCrawl by the way if you want to check it out. It’s coming along nicely I think.
I don’t get it, are they really trying to duplicate the worst parts of Ebay?
Along with an ETA on the cupcake rollout to G1 users by T-Mobile?