Upsie, the Black-founded consumer-warranty startup that got its start in St. Paul, has been acquired by a San Francisco company called Akko that is building a presence in a similar market.
Akko announced the acquisition this week, saying it planned to integrate Upsie's existing network of independent device repair specialists with its own.
Upsie decided to close in October 2023, according to a LinkedIn post from Upsie's VP of Engineering. Its website is functional but its Facebook and Instagram accounts no longer appear active.
The Twin Cities startup was launched in 2015 by founder and former CEO Clarence Bethea, who set his sights on disrupting the traditional extended-warranty market that was a profitable side hustle for electronics retailers.
"If you've ever gone into a big-box store, you've gone to the register and you've been pitched a warranty … For a lot of companies, this is a big part of their bottom-line profit," Bethea told the Business Journal in 2021. But for consumers, he added, "Historically, 'warranty' has been a negative word. We want to make it cool to protect your devices."
Upsie raised more than $27 million and was part of the Target+Techstars Retail Accelerator’s second class. Bethea moved to Dallas in 2021 and later stepped down from his role as CEO, though he remained executive chairman. The company's headquarters remained in St. Paul.
Akko, meanwhile, launched in 2020 and has raised roughly $15 million in funding, according to Crunchbase.
Upsie active subscribers won't experience any disruption or lapse in their coverage and are retain their protection plans with the same terms, Akko said.
“Building Upsie has been an incredible journey in helping hundreds of thousands of customers protect their devices and preserve value," said Bethea in a statement. "Akko's acquisition of the company is the next phase of bringing transparency and affordability to product warranties and device insurance."
Bethea is currently executive in residence and an investor in True Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage startups.
