Flok (company)

Last updated

flok
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Mobile, Apps, Chatbots, Loyalty Programs
Founded2011;14 years ago (2011)
Defunct2020;5 years ago (2020) [1]
Headquarters New York City
Parent Wix.com
Website flok.com (no longer active; now used by another company with the same name)

Flok (formerly Loyalblocks) [2] was an American tech startup based in New York City that provides marketing services such as chatbots/AI, [3] customer loyalty programs, mobile apps and CRM services to local businesses. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

In January 2017, the company was acquired by Wix.com. [8] [9] Around March 2017, Flok ceased regular communication.

At some point in 2019 Flok communicated to its customers that it would shut down in March of 2020. [1]

Background

Flok was founded in 2011 by Ido Gaver and Eran Kirshenboim and has offices in Tel Aviv, Israel. [10] In May 2013, Flok secured a $9 million Series A Round from General Catalyst Partners with participation from Founder Collective and existing investor Gemini Israel Ventures. [11] In total, Flok has raised over $18 million in venture capital in three rounds. [12] [13]

In May 2014, Flok announced a self-service loyalty platform for SMBs to build their own programs with beacon integration. At that time, approximately 40,000 businesses were using the service. [14] In 2016, Flok released a turnkey chatbot service for local businesses, [15] [16] and was featured in AdWeek for developing the first weed bot chatbot for a California cannabis business. [17]

Services

Flok offered an eponymous customer-facing app [18] that consumers use to receive rewards and deals from partner businesses, [19] and a Flok business app for merchants to manage the platform. [20]

References

  1. 1 2 Ward, Michaela (2 January 2020). "Flok Shutting Down: Looking for a Replacement App for Flok?". stampme.com. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  2. ↑ "Your next loyalty 'punch card' will be driven by AI". VentureBeat . Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  3. ↑ "Flok uses Bluetooth and chatbots to lure people inside thousands of small businesses". VentureBeat. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  4. ↑ Forbes Communications Council. "How Conversational UX And The Internet Of Things Are Changing The Way We Communicate". Forbes . Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  5. ↑ "Should Your Business Create an App?". American Express OPEN Forum. 25 March 2016. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  6. ↑ "Small Business Loyalty Programs : flok". Trend Hunter. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  7. ↑ "Loyalty Is Not Enough — It's All About Customer Relationship Management Now". Geomarketing . 7 June 2016. Archived from the original on 15 July 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  8. ↑ Lunden, Ingrid (19 January 2017). "Wix buys Flok to add loyalty and mobile CRM to its business tools". TechCrunch . Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  9. ↑ "Wix acquires Israeli CRM co flok - Globes". Globes (in Hebrew). 22 January 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  10. ↑ Zimmerman, Eilene (16 September 2014). "LoyalBlocks Simplifies Mobile App Creation for Small Merchants". The New York Times . Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "LoyalBlocks Nabs $9M for Its Automated Mobile Loyalty Program". 23 May 2013.
  12. ↑ Taylor, Colleen (23 May 2013). "LoyalBlocks Lands $9 Million Led By General Catalyst To Scale Out Its Mobile-Based Loyalty Program". TechCrunch . Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  13. ↑ "Your next loyalty 'punch card' will be driven by AI". VentureBeat. 7 April 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  14. ↑ "LoyalBlocks Adds Beacon to Self-Serve Loyalty Platform for SMBS".
  15. ↑ "Flok uses Bluetooth and chatbots to lure people inside thousands of small businesses". 26 July 2016.
  16. ↑ "Flok wants to bring chatbots to the small business masses". 27 July 2016.
  17. ↑ "This California Marijuana Dispensary Is Using Bots to Understand Customers' Preferences". Adweek. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  18. ↑ "flok - get rewarded on the App Store". App Store (iOS). Archived from the original on 28 November 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  19. ↑ "Startup LoyalBlocks helps small businesses zap deals and rewards to customers' smartphones". New York Daily News . 7 September 2012.
  20. ↑ "flok business on the App Store". App Store (iOS). Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
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