In May, I published an in-depth exposé detailing the downfall of Brydge, the once-thriving startup making popular keyboard accessories for iPad users. At the time, Brydge told me that an acquisition of the company was in the works involving a “third party via a foreclosure process initiated by its senior lender.”
That acquisition has now been revealed, with a company called Uinta Products announcing that it has acquired Brydge’s assets with support from investment firm Claret Capital.
In a press release announcing the deal, Uinta Products says that it plans to relaunch Brydge Technologies. The press release describes Uinta Products as a “rising entity in the technology industry.”
Uinta Products will be led by Leon Rossi as CEO, who served as Brydge’s CFO from October 2022 until the company officially ran out of money in March 2023. Alan Way, who worked as Brydge’s vice president of global sales from October 2021 through March 2023, will serve as Uinta’s chief revenue officer.
In today’s announcement, Rossi directly addresses my story on Brydge from last month and says that Uinta Products is committed to “rebuilding this business stronger and better.” According to Rossi, a “number of former Brydge employees” have joined Uinta.
We are aware of the article posted on 9to5Mac in May this year. However, we want to assure all stakeholders that we are committed to rebuilding this business stronger and better. A number of former Brydge employees have joined us at Uinta, further strengthening our ability to deliver on our promise.
Uinta is excited to relaunch Brydge back into the market. With Brydge’s history of quality and innovative products we are looking forward to a successful endeavour.
Notably, Uinta’s press release does not address the baggage that Brydge has left behind. There is no mention of when or if former Brydge employees still waiting on unpaid salaries will be made whole, or if Brydge customers still waiting on orders to arrive will receive them or will be refunded for their purchases. I’ve asked Uinta Products for more clarification and will update if I hear back.
As of Thursday, Way and Rossi are listed as the two sole employees of Uinta on LinkedIn. It’s unclear who else from Brydge has joined the company. The press release makes no mention of Brydge’s cofounders and co-CEOs, Nicholas Smith and Toby Mander-Jones. Smith has updated his LinkedIn profile to confirm he is no longer involved with Brydge as of May.
It’s certainly nice to see this acquisition finalized and some of the details made public. There are still, however, many unanswered questions about what’s next.
In the weeks following my story, Brydge’s website was taken completely offline, and the company’s social media accounts were deleted. Former employees with whom I spoke indicated that Brydge had products in inventory being held by its lenders for missed payments. The company’s intellectual property was one of its most important assets.
For more details on what led to Brydge’s downfall, you can read my full report from last month. I spoke to nearly a dozen former Brydge employees who attributed the company’s failure to mismanagement of growth, intense competition from Apple, misleading statements from its two co-CEOs, and an overall hostile working environment that led to a high turnover rate.
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