The Weirdest Start-Ups of All Time

While you might think that a start-up should offer a novel, useful idea in order to receive funding, as it turns out, you don’t always have to have a good idea, let alone much of an idea at all. These start-ups are among the strangest around. But the craziest part is that many of these actually received millions of dollars in funding to realize their vision. Here are some of the weirdest start-ups of all time.

Blippy

The concept behind Blippy is simple. Users can tie their credit card and Twitter accounts together. Then, every time users purchase something with their credit card their purchases will be broadcast out to the entire world via Twitter. While we can see this being used as a tool someone might use to encourage themselves to make smarter, more informed credit card purchases, we still find it hard to believe that Blippy was able to obtain an incredible $13 million in funding. Blippy was eventually shut down, however, after a scandal in which the credit card numbers of members were accidentally leaked.

The CueCat

This oldie but goodie was released right around the time of the Dotcom burst. Designed by start-up Digital Convergence Corporation long before Silicon Valley entered the popular vernacular, the CueCat was a strange little device where users could scan printed barcodes, usually found in magazine ads, and instantly view webpages for various products. But it didn’t catch on with consumers. Who, after all, wanted to spend their Sundays scanning soda advertisements? It’s now widely considered one of the biggest tech failures of all time. But the strangest part? There was much controversy surrounding the CueCat, with many users concerned that their purchases were being tracked through their CueCats, each of which had a unique serial number.

Manservants

While it sounds like the kind of thing that better belongs in a self-published erotica, Manservants is real. The service aims to provide wealthy women with attractive male butlers, who will wait on them hand and foot. The start-up is currently available in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City so wealthy women who live in those cities are in luck. We can only imagine the kinds of services the men who work for Manservants can be expected to provide.

The Wedding Wagon

You know what most weddings are missing? A van driven by someone who’s probably got a record. In case your wedding didn’t feel unclassy enough, you can get married in a van thanks to this start-up. Called the Wedding Wagon, couples who want to book this service can simply call them up and get married for less than $200. And as it so happens, the Wedding Wagon is based only in Las Vegas. So this is basically for the people who think getting married in a drive-through ceremony hosted by an Elvis impersonator is much too hoity-toity.

Agester

Tinder is awkward enough. The last thing dating apps need is a game where you can guess how old your potential date is. And that’s precisely why Agester failed. An app where you could guess the ages of other users, Agester folded shortly after inception. But we can’t say that’s particularly surprising, especially when you consider the fact that most women don’t take kindly to being asked how old they are.

Washboard 

Washboard aimed to solve a problem no one really had: this start-up would deliver quarters so Laundromat visiting customers never had to bother going to the bank to make change out of their cash or hunt underneath their sofa cushions. Predictably, Washboard went under, which isn’t much of a surprise when you consider people would have to pay $27 for $20 worth of quarters.

Highster Mobile, on the other hand, is a spy software from ILF Mobile Apps – an institution in software development. If you’re worried about kids phones because you have no idea what your kids are using their phones for, Highster Mobile is a big help. This software is a spyware for cell phones that allows you to monitor and keep track of all phone activities of your child. Text message apps like WhatsApp can easily be tracked using this spyware. All you need to do is gain access to the target phone for at least 3 minutes for the installation. After that, you will have peace of mind.