Online grocer finds buyer
Dayton Business Journal - by Don Baker DBJ Staff Reporter
BeeLineShopper.com has been sold to AirClic Inc., a larger bar code scanning company, and will be moving its operations to AirClic's headquarters in a Philadelphia suburb this summer.
The Troy-based startup, which allows users to make electronic grocery lists by scanning bar-coded household items, was founded last summer by Leib Lurie, a 20-year veteran of the bar code industry. Lurie said he sold the company for "high seven figures," but would not disclose the purchase price.
AirClic specializes in bar code scanning products and systems and recently announced it received $290 million in venture funding from such notable companies as Motorola.
Lurie said BeeLineShopper.com and AirClic complement each other.
"This is a good thing, and I think we'll be successful by expanding the use of bar codes beyond the (typical checkout scanners)," he said.
The two companies plan to expand bar code technology into personal handheld computer devices and cell phones. Consumers soon could use a cell phone to scan bar codes on items at a grocery store as they're being put into the shopping cart. Customer can then use the cell phone to pay for the items using a wireless connection to the grocer's computer system.
AirClic plans to go public during the next several years, but Lurie said details of that haven't been finalized. Phillip Riese, chief executive officer of AirClic, said the acquisition will allow his company to quickly launch into new markets.
"BeeLine provides us with a high value consumer offering in what is a natural market for scanning -- groceries," Riese said. "This is one of the many alliances that will make AirClic the global standard for Web-based mobile applications."
Lurie said investors in BeeLine, http://www.beelineshopper.com, saw a return of about 10 or 12 times their original investment, but he didn't get any money from local venture funds.
"I raised $1 million, but except for the money I put in, none of it came from the Miami Valley," Lurie said. "The Miami Valley is going to continue to lose high-tech jobs because of the lack of funding. The attitude is `Unless you're looking to fund a machine shop, don't talk to me.'"
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