Asurion Buys Soluto for $130 Million
Asurion is a mobile device insurer that has partnered with major phone carriers such as Sprint and Verizon in order to provide replacements for broken handsets. Many analysts are reporting that Asurion has recently acquired Soluto for $130 Million. Soluto is a cloud based mobile device management platform that allows users to track lost phones, provides remote access and allows users to back up their media. In addition to offering consumer services, Soluto also has a suite geared for small to medium enterprises that will track lost phones, offer remote access, and manage the patch updates of mobile devices.
Soluto was originally conceived by Tomer Dvir as a way to help his mother with her technology needs. Tomer took this idea and it eventually morphed into the cloud based mobile device management platform aptly named Soluto. His company has gone on to win several awards in the startup field including a $50,000 prize from TechCrunch back in 2010. Soluto’s software has had at least 3 million downloads since its inception.
Analysts agree that this acquisition makes sense for both parties involved. Asurion can use Soluto as a service to offer to its existing customer database. On the insurance front, Soluto could reduce its risk profile by using the cloud based Soluto as a way to remotely troubleshoot devices. Customers can also back up their contact, media and other sensitive data in Soluto’s cloud. If the device is ever lost, Soluto can help find the device and the data will be stored in the cloud. Reducing risk and adding phone tracking services makes good business sense for Asurion. Customers will be able to track lost phones and subsequently recover them quickly which in return helps Asurion’s bottom line. When customers do get a new phone through Asurion’s services, they will be able to retrieve their data from the cloud and load it back onto their new handset.
