Yupi
Encyclopedia
Yupi is a Latin Internet portal founded in 1997 by Carlos Cardona
, a young web developer from South Florida. Yupi was one of a handful of the first major sites for Hispanics on the Internet in the late 1990s Dot-com bubble
. Yupi.com was a major force in Silicon Beach "the prime Internet hub for Latin America"
The company's Senior Executive staff included: Oscar Coën (President and CEO), Marlena Delgado (COO), and Gustavo Morles (Sr. VP Business Development and Content), Carlos A Cardona (CTO and Founder).
By 1999 the company had raised as much as $150 million from venture capitalists including Sony
, Comcast
and News Corp.. It was planning an initial public offering in the spring of 2000 when the Nasdaq
market crashed. Quickly running out of cash and without enough revenue to support its business, Yupi cut staff by 66% on December 19, 2000.
In 2001, Yupi was acquired in a joint venture between Microsoft
and Telmex
(Teléfonos de México). Although MSN and Telmex never disclosed the price they paid in acquiring Yupi, analysts had estimated that it might have been about $50 million, much less than investors had poured in.
In 2003, YupiMSN's operations were moved to the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington.
Carlos Cardona
Carlos Cardona is an internet entrepreneur best known for his Web 1.0 star-up Yupi Internet. He started his first company at the age of 18. His company went on to raise US $150 million from venture capitalists including Sony, Comcast and News Corp...
, a young web developer from South Florida. Yupi was one of a handful of the first major sites for Hispanics on the Internet in the late 1990s Dot-com bubble
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
. Yupi.com was a major force in Silicon Beach "the prime Internet hub for Latin America"
Company history
Yupi Internet Inc. was founded in May 1996. Its flagship portal site, Yupi.com, was created in response to the great need for high-quality Spanish-language content and services in a user-friendly format on the World Wide Web. In 1999, Yupi enhanced its offering through the acquisition of CiudadFutura, one of the world's first Spanish-language online communities, which at the time was supported by over 200 webmasters from around the world. Yupi was committed to bringing the best that the World Wide Web had to offer to Spanish-speaking Internet users and to providing marketers with unique and effective opportunities to reach targeted audiences. The Yupi portfolio featured MujerFutura.com, a specialized site catering to the interests and needs of Spanish-speaking women. Yupi also offered a fast-growing selection of sites dedicated to localized news, content and services; including pioneer multimedia site YupiTV. Yupi.com and its network of sites was headquartered in Miami Beach, Fla. and had offices in Bogotá (Colombia), Madrid and Barcelona (Spain), Mexico City (Mexico), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and in Quito (Ecuador).The company's Senior Executive staff included: Oscar Coën (President and CEO), Marlena Delgado (COO), and Gustavo Morles (Sr. VP Business Development and Content), Carlos A Cardona (CTO and Founder).
By 1999 the company had raised as much as $150 million from venture capitalists including Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
and News Corp.. It was planning an initial public offering in the spring of 2000 when the Nasdaq
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
market crashed. Quickly running out of cash and without enough revenue to support its business, Yupi cut staff by 66% on December 19, 2000.
In 2001, Yupi was acquired in a joint venture between Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
and Telmex
Telmex
Telmex is a telecommunications company headquartered in Mexico City that provides telecommunication products and services in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and other countries in Latin America. In addition to traditional fixed-line telephone service, Telmex also offers Internet access, data,...
(Teléfonos de México). Although MSN and Telmex never disclosed the price they paid in acquiring Yupi, analysts had estimated that it might have been about $50 million, much less than investors had poured in.
In 2003, YupiMSN's operations were moved to the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington.
External links
- http://www.yupimsn.com/
- Carlos Cardona
- Measuring the Internet Economy, June 6, 2000. Report prepared by The University of Texas for Cisco Systems. See page 31 http://web.archive.org/web/20070928122025/http://www.momentumresearchgroup.com/downloads/reports/internet-indicators-2000.pdf
- True Believer, January 2001, Latin Trade. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BEK/is_1_9/ai_68738964