Komoot sold

Yeah... I'm only a premium member for the collections feature, which I could and should probably replicate as Blog content instead as Komoot gives horrible exposure anyway. Don't like the sound of the new lot so likely to cancel on principle. Assuming if I cancel now I'll get the remainder of the year that I've paid up tor...

For only slightly more than the cost of Komoot Premium you could buy an OS digital subscription AND (I think, haven't researched fully) pay for a publishing license should you wish to 'publish' OS content. 

Still paying for Strava premium for the route planner, Heatmap is worth the cost alone I reckon.

Yes, I actually really like the Strava route planner, and agree Heatmap is awesome (both while planning & just while free riding out & about!)

DCRainmaker having a bit of a rant there.  Not sure why they feel entitled to better press releases about company ownership?  How much time did they spend worrying about the ownership before the change?  Probably not much if they believe Komoot was entirely funded on grants and soft loans - the press release itself lists KRW Schindler, Outdoor Secondary, MBG Beteiligungsges. Berlin-Brandenburg, and LP Capital (Liquid Partners), as the backers - they all expect a return somehow.  Thats almost always by selling to someone who wants to do something different with the business - grow it, kill it, exploit the tech and get rid of the costs etc.  21st century capitalism - don’t like it? Well you could try to recreate the offering with your own money as a social enterprise.  Probably not that hard - until you try to scale it!

Heatmap works fine even without a subscription!

Just as i was getting my head round Komoot this happens

 My hunch is that for commercial reasons they will increase the elevation numbers for rides and runs. They are rubbish at the moment

DCRainmaker having a bit of a rant there.

Fair enough! I give him a pass as he's one of the few sources online I trust for actual impartial info. Time will tell though if he's right and it all goes to shite, or just carries on business as usual.

Heatmap works fine even without a subscription!

not in the route planner!

I'm thinking of the staff, not the users, at the moment.

If Garmin software was anywhere close to being as good as it should be, I don’t see where any of these third party companies would have a market.

You got the feeling they were really into cycling.

Difficult to understand their model back when they sold the region maps so cheap.

This stuff costs money you know, more than you think. Reckon I've posted that sentence on many an IT service cost/benefit thread now.

The community poi are their killer feature, hope that continues. 

But.

Why pay more for komoot subscription when I already pay for strava?

Posted by: midlifecrashes

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If Garmin software was anywhere close to being as good as it should be

Something that always amazes me is that they have an aviation division including fully electronic cockpits. I can only assume their good devs work there and the lifestyle/fitness division get the rejects.

I do wonder how quickly the one off purchases of the maps on komoot will somehow become redundant.

I can’t imagine they were ever profitable and must have hit a cash crunch otherwise why would you sell? Probably like most other modern “businesses” where you burn a load of cash and hope someone will buy you out before you go bust. It’s a shame that it’s so hard to get a business like this going on the basis of having 5% of your customers paying whilst the rest freeload*, but there we are.

* That’s me after paying £20 back in the day for all of world mapping 

** Tried Strava premium and didn’t see the value

Don't need to be profitable necessarily. Just need to have built enough brand and goodwill to sell on, with a shareprice valuation based on future expectation.  There are multibillion $ companies out there that have never made a profit.

I was surprised they took so long to sell tbh. I was expecting the sale to be within about 3 years of when they had a massive marketing budget, sponsoring practically every outdoor sport activity Youtube channel.

I expect it to last about as long as Endomondo from the actual moment of sale.

Posted by: andytherocketeer

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I was surprised they took so long to sell tbh. I was expecting the sale to be within about 3 years of when they had a massive marketing budget, sponsoring practically every outdoor sport activity Youtube channel.

Apidura are still around too and they must have given away all of their first production run.

Posted by: kelvin

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I'm thinking of the staff, not the users, at the moment.

Thank you Kelvin , and anyone else who shares this sentiment. I know this can be a compassionate place when the chips are down.

Posted by: llama

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You got the feeling they were really into cycling.

I can tell you this is true, komoot at it's heart is full of outdoor enthusiasts (I mean I'm on singletrack forum as a paid member?!). Whilst we might not have made the same product and business choices that seem to get critiqued when announcements like this are made, what I can tell you is we worked extremely hard and passionately to make it the best we could - we poured a lot into it. We're all heartbroken to see it end this way.

Really sucks for the staff who were instantly let go. My annual sub was meant to renew in a couple of weeks but I've cancelled it now.

Two comments....  Most importantly for me,  absolute sympathy for all the staff affected. Sad times. I can only wish them all the very best having had someone very close to me caught up in the Kona debacle.

At a practical level what does this mean for me as a worldwide map purchaser but not a Premium member.

Will I still be able to create routes on my laptop, import routes from others and have the map download capability.... and install these routes on my Garmin?  Or does everything grind to a halt?

komoot at it's heart is full of outdoor enthusiasts (I mean I'm on singletrack forum as a paid member?!). Whilst we might not have made the same product and business choices that seem to get critiqued when announcements like this are made, what I can tell you is we worked extremely hard and passionately to make it the best we could - we poured a lot into it.

+100. I was sad to hear the news, not about a sale which would have happened at some stage, but to whom it was sold and the likely impact it would have on the people I know who work there. komoot were the host of a route I put together and they supported the foundation that the route and event was set up to benefit - it was always a pleasure to work with them and they all had a real passion for what they did and what route mapping and exploring could do for people (and the foundation they supported as part of the route hosting sponsorhip). Good things came from what komoot did and those things came from the ideas and work of the people who worked there more than the app itself.

@jaymold I hope things are working out a bit better than some are saying, can't be an easy time right now. Been through similar situations.

Not sure what all the fuss is about. Company owners get an offer and take the money. If the VC company that buy it price it out if the market then who cares if they lose thier money

Posted by: midlifecrashes

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If Garmin software was anywhere close to being as good as it should be, I don’t see where any of these third party companies would have a market.

And that's why you can be confident the alternatives will be around for years and years to come. Garmin's software development gets worser and worserer from my bitter experience if using their watches.

If the VC company that buy it price it out if the market then who cares if they lose thier money

I don't think anyone cares about the financial health of the VC - it's just this specific VC has a history of making all, or a large swath of, employees redundant (sometimes without notice). Not a nice way to treat the employees...