MileIQ explained

MileIQ
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Hq Location City:San Francisco, California
Hq Location Country:U.S.
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Key People:Chuck Dietrich (CEO)
Products:MileIQ mobile app[1]
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Owners:-->
Parent:Microsoft
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MileIQ is an American-based technology company that develops a mileage tracking and logging app.[2] The app uses automatic mileage tracking to calculate mileage while driving for business purposes that can then be used to report for reimbursement and potentially a tax deduction with the IRS, being attributed as the first mobile app to passively track such data. MileIQ has been compared to Fitbit for driving[3] and has been discussed in national business publications that include Fast Company, Fortune, and Forbes.[4] [5]

On November 5, 2015, Microsoft announced that it had acquired MileIQ for an undisclosed amount.[6]

On March 18, 2021, MileIQ service is transitioning to a new owner, MileIQ LLC, which is led by the original creators of the mileage tracking app. MileIQ LLC is unaffiliated with Microsoft Corporation and will start operating the app and the service after May 1, 2021.

History

MileIQ was founded by Dan Bomze, an entrepreneur and investor of numerous startups. He began collaborating with a small team to design software that would simplify mileage reimbursement.[7] Bomze obtained feedback from others who tracked mileage for reimbursement and began looking for a business partner knowledgeable with software development.[7] He was introduced to SlideRocket CEO and former Salesforce.com general manager Chuck Dietrich who became a founding partner in the company.[8] MileIQ was officially launched in the App Store in 2013, later becoming available for Android.[7] [9]

Concur Technologies, a company that integrates third-party apps for users to file business reports, added MileIQ to its service offerings in early 2014.[10] The same year, MileIQ partnered with cloud accounting software company FreshBooks. The partnership allowed users of MileIQ to automatically import their driving data into their FreshBooks accounts.[11]

MileIQ received seed funding in amount of $3 million (~$ in) in late 2014, led by SV Angel, CRV, and Salesforce.com founder Marc Benioff. MileIQ added $11 million (~$ in) in funding in 2015 with a Series A round that included original investors as well as the addition of Trinity Ventures.[12]

Products and services

MileIQ offers an app named after the company ("MileIQ") which passively tracks and logs mileage of users. The app works in the background of a Smartphone, tracking and recording all driving activities. It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to filter personal and business mileage based on time, day, and other factors. The app syncs with online mileage logs to document information obtained while driving.

The MileIQ app is available for free download on the App Store and Google Play.[3] After a one-time download and profile set-up, it works like an activity tracker and begins to log drives automatically, or allows for manual entry of travel.[4] The user swipes left or right at the end of each trip to indicate if the trip was for personal or business.[13] The free version of the app tracks up to 40 drives per month with a premium feature that allows for more.[3]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Martin . Allison . February 28, 2014 . Tax Hacks 2014: 13 Helpful Income Tax Apps . MoneyTalkNews . May 19, 2015.
  2. News: Cull . Ian . March 18, 2015 . Mile IQ App Helps Drivers Track Mileage for Business Trips . NBC Bay Area . May 19, 2015.
  3. News: Tipton . Adriana . February 26, 2015 . MileIQ Is Like Fitbit For Driving; Here's Why . Tech News Today . dead . May 19, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150504093018/http://www.technewstoday.com/21726-mileiq-is-like-fitbit-for-driving-heres-why/ . May 4, 2015.
  4. News: Aamoth . Doug . April 10, 2015 . Free App Friday: 5 Great Last-Minute Tax Tools . Fast Company . May 19, 2015.
  5. News: April 14, 2015 . Sharing-economy jobs make taxes uber-complicated . Fortune . May 19, 2015.
  6. News: Kim . Eugene . November 5, 2015 . Microsoft just bought a startup that can automatically track how far you drive. . Business Insider .
  7. Web site: About us . May 19, 2015 . MileIQ official website.
  8. News: Carney . Michael . January 29, 2015 . MileIQ raises $11M to take the pain out of mileage tracking and put more cash in users' pockets . Pando Daily . May 19, 2015.
  9. News: Channer . Rory . March 9, 2015 . 6 apps to pack on your phone for business travel . Los Angeles Business Journals . May 19, 2015.
  10. News: Frank . Blair Hanley . May 8, 2014 . Concur expands App Center, adds MileIQ, Trover and more than 30 other partners . GeekWire . May 19, 2015.
  11. Web site: Lapchuk . Lindsay . FreshBooks and MileIQ partner to make tracking your miles a breeze . May 19, 2015 . FreshBooks.
  12. News: January 30, 2015 . The Daily Startup: Latest Kickstart Seed Fund Looks to Boost Utah Startups . The Wall Street Journal . May 19, 2015.
  13. News: Weston . Liz . April 27, 2015 . Financial records: What to keep, what to toss . Reuters . May 19, 2015.