Anyone who doesn’t think companies with even the most basic goals in mind can’t become corporate powerhouses need look no further than this story.
Swype is a small mobile startup that came to market with one simple idea – make the process of typing text on a touch-screen phone as easy and fluid as possible.
Today, it’s recognized as perhaps the best option for Android users who want to ditch their phone’s standard built-in keyboard.
The Swype app allows users to slide, or “swipe,” their finger along the keyboard while they’re typing, and it recognizes when they stop on the letter or character they want to insert.
Because it’s such a popular alternative, there’s no shortage of competitors in the market trying to make an even better third-party touchscreen keyboard. Most of the ones that have a shot are not dedicated companies like Swype, and have other ventures to keep them going.
One such company is Nuance Communications, a company that also deals in speech recognition. Its FlexT9 keyboard is a direct rival to Swype.
But not anymore, as Nuance has just purchased Swype for a whopping $102.5 million. That’s not bad for a company with only a handful of employees and very little history.
Nuance has already paid $77.5 million to Swype shareholders and plans to pay the rest as soon as the deal closes.
Swype will continue to operate as it does now, and Nuance has actually stipulated that its executives must stay on for at least the next year in order to get the full $100+ million payout.
