Zip.ca
Zip.ca was a Canadian DVD-by-mail and rental-kiosk business launched in Ottawa in 2004 and closed in 2014. Michael ArringtonMichael ArringtonMichael Arrington is an American entrepreneur and investor who founded the technology publication TechCrunch in 2005, created Crunchbase in 2007, sold TechCrunch to AOL in 2010, and went on to found CrunchFund and the crypto-asset investment firm Arrington Capital.Open the full entry’s early ventures included the company.
Contents6 sections
Key facts
February 2004DVD-by-mail launch
Zip.ca launched an online DVD-rental service in Canada in February 2004. Customers selected titles online for postal delivery, with the founding and operating business connected to Robert HallRobert E. HallRobert E. Hall is an American economist, professor emeritus of economics at Stanford University and senior fellow emeritus at the Hoover Institution, known for research on consumption, employment fluctuations and the flat tax; he long chaired NBER’s Business Cycle Dating Committee and shared the 2026 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Michael Woodford.Open the full entry and Momentous.[1]
Entrepreneurial connections: Michael Arrington and Momentous
Arrington’s biography lists Zip.ca and Pool.comPool.comPool.com is a domain marketplace and expired-domain backordering service associated with Momentous. Michael Arrington was CEO in 2003–2004, and Taryn Naidu also led the company.Open the full entry among his Canadian founding and operating ventures; Pool.com’s 2004 team material also identifies Zip.ca among Momentous businesses.[2]
Operations: Postal delivery and kiosks
Alongside mailed DVDs, Zip.ca operated movie-rental kiosks. Ottawa reporting documented a store kiosk in 2011 and more than 20 million movies mailed over the business’s decade of operations.[3]
August 2014Closure
In August 2014, Zip.ca informed subscribers that disc shipments were ending and requested returns. It had not successfully transitioned to streaming and temporarily allowed subscribers to download their rental histories.[3]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Related people and organizations include Michael Arrington, Robert Hall, Momentous and Pool.com. This entry covers the Canadian disc-rental business operating from 2004 to 2014.[4]