Creating a successful app that consolidates news, articles, and social media posts into a single platform is proving to be quite challenging in today’s tech landscape. Smashing, an innovative AI-powered app designed to help users customize their news feeds, is unfortunately closing its doors due to its inability to achieve rapid growth.
The company communicated the closure to its customers, expressing regret that they couldn’t scale Smashing into a sustainable product quickly enough.
Launched by Otis Chandler, the founder of GoodReads, Smashing aimed to revolutionize the way we consume content. It offered users the chance to follow their interests, submit articles, vote on content relevance, and enjoy AI-powered summaries. A unique feature was its AI bot, ready to answer user inquiries, further enhancing the interactive experience.
Despite these promising features, Smashing had just seven employees and managed to secure $3.4 million in funding from various investors. However, the growth needed to sustain the business was elusive.
Yet, hope is not lost for those seeking a one-stop news aggregation solution. Emerging startups like Bulletin and Particle provide AI-powered news reading experiences, while apps like Feeeed, Tapestry, and Reeder offer robust feed aggregation services.
Smashing’s closure highlights the volatility of tech ventures, reminiscent of the shutdown of Instagram’s co-founders’ AI news app, Artifact, which was eventually acquired by Yahoo. As the tech industry continues to evolve, it will be intriguing to see which pioneers succeed in crafting the perfect news aggregation app.
