The giant California finance management software company Intuit has gobbled up a small Boston startup focused on helping ease the check-out purchasing process on mobile phones, AisleBuyer. While the price has not been released to the public, we can get some sort of idea regarding the value of the deal by looking at the total venture or investor funding the Boston startup has rounded up. It has been in existence since 2009 and since then raised $11 million dollars both in the form of direct investment capital as well as debt financing. The startup developed technology that lets consumers scan a product barcode from a store using their phone. The consumers then access reviews, ratings, and other information regarding the product. If the consumer wants to, he or she can pay for the product being viewed using a credit card. No need to stand in line at the store’s cash register.
AisleBuyer has scored some measure of small success with its technology. In 2010, it secured a partnership with small local Boston kids products retail chain Magic Beans. After that, the company announced its partnership with the Springfield-based Big Y Supermarkets chain. Ever since the Big Y deal, AisleBuyer’s been quiet on the business development front.
AisleBuyer’s relationship with Intuit dates back to October of 2011. The company’s CEO spoke after the head of Intuit’s Payment Solutions business unit. This was where AisleBuyer got on the radar of Intuit. Things, apparently, proceeded smoothly after this bit of synergy. Things picked up when the companies did a quiet test pilot program early in 2012 with a few Intuit clients. The pilot explored how AisleBuyer’s technology could work with a range of Intuit applications. Apparently, the relationship began more as a technology partnership instead of an outright acquisition play. However, according to the CEO of AisleBuyer, the more the two companies worked together they both realized they could achieve more if the companies were more tightly integrated into one company. The vision for the partnership for a point of sale mobile synergy for small businesses soon turned into discussions about acquisition.