Powa Technologies

Powa Technologies was a technology company, based in the United Kingdom. It is known for its commerce, mobile commerce and e-commerce services. The company’s flagship product was the mobile application PowaTag.  In February 2016, investment company Wellington Management appointed professional services firm Deloitte as administrators of Powa Technologies. 
History
Powa was founded in 2007 by British businessman Dan Wagner. The company got the largest Series A funding round for a technology start-up at the time, collecting $76 million in August 2013.  The investment attracted the attention of David Cameron.

In June 2014, Powa Technologies bought Hong Kong business MPayMe and its ZNAP technology. So Wagner suggested that Powa had a business value of $2.6 billion.

In 2015, they announced that their planned LSE £1.6 billion float would be suspended until the year.Ho, Geoff. "Powa Technologies puts float on hold as PowaTag is priority", Express', 1 February 2015. Accessed 28 October 2015.  By early 2016, the company had run into financial difficulties, missing payments to staff and third parties.Powa Technologies missed staff and contractor payments

Its Hong Kong office did not pay its employees on time and its ex-employees within 7 days, with some employees having to seek help from the Labor Department. On 28 January 2016, Alessandro Gadotti became CEO of PowaTag in the effort of restructuring the business.

During his leadership, he also served as the Group's interim CEOs, supporting the process and the sale of the Group's companies. On February 19, 2016, Powa Technologies was transferred to management,Powa Technologies appoints Deloitte as administrators and on February 23, 2016, Powa Technologies made 74 of its London-based staff redundant.Bust London tech unicorn Powa makes 74 staff redundant

On 24 February 2016, Powa Technologies filed for bankruptcy and fired most of its employees. Wellington Management, an investment firm, has appointed Deloitte Professional Services as PowaTag administrators. 

 PowaTag 
PowaTag was a technology for mobile payments and mobile application by Powa Technologies. PowaTag was launched at a March 2014 event in New York by Powa CEO Dan Wagner. It was reported that at the time of launch, more than 240 retailers had signed up to use the service.  However, later reports showed that most of the companies had only written non-binding Letters of Intent. 

 Specifics

Thanks to the application, users could shop with a smartphone, where the payment and delivery data are tied to a specific smartphone device. The app contained elements of QR code detection, audio recognition, and beacon technology. 

Audio watermarks in the form of insensitive tones embedded within radio, commercials, or live broadcast events were detectable by the app, that taking users to a mobile commerce store where you could make a purchase. 

 Related pages 
 Electronic money

 References 

Category:Software companies of the United Kingdom
Category:2007 establishments in the United Kingdom
Category:Defunct companies of the United Kingdom
Category:2016 disestablishments in Europe