Netvibes, the San Francisco–based startup that allows people and brands to create personalized RSS feed dashboards, announced on Wednesday evening it has been acquired by French enterprise software firm Systèmes. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed.…
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Klout makes its first acquisition: Local-mobile app Blockboard
Klout, the San Francisco-based startup that measures people's "influence" across a variety of social networks, has made its first acquisition with the purchase of Blockboard, a Twitter-like mobile app that functions as a community bulletin board for posting messages viewable to your neighbors.…
Read MoreThe state of e-commerce: M&A surging, daily deals still big
It's been a big part of the Internet picture for well over a decade, but right now e-commerce is really hitting its stride, according to a new report out of CB Insights and the [email protected] Conference. M&A activity is surging and investment dollars are growing steadily.…
Read MoreWeb app security startup Unsubscribe.com sells to TrustedID
Unsubscribe.com, the Los Angeles–based startup that makes security and privacy tools for email and social networking applications, has been acquired by TrustedID, a Palo Alto, Calif.–based credit and identity protection technology firm. Financial terms of the deal have not been announced.…
Read MoreSalesforce buys Model Metrics in mobile and social push
Salesforce.com on Monday announced its acquisition of Model Metrics, a company that provides mobile and social cloud consulting services. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. The deal will "add mobile and social expertise" to Salesforce's current offerings, the company says.…
Read MoreFacebook’s new acqui-hire: HTML5 mobile app startup Strobe
Facebook announced Tuesday its latest talent acquisition: Strobe Corp., a San Francisco-based mobile app development startup focused on HTML5 apps. Strobe was born out of SproutCore, an open-source JavaScript framework built by engineer Charles Jolley in 2007 while he was a full-time engineer at Apple…
Read MoreNotable: LSI buys SandForce for $400M
Venture capitalists have generally given semiconductor startups the cold shoulder for years now in favor of the web and software spaces. But LSI Corporation's $400 acquisition of VC-backed chip startup Sandforce could encourage more VCs to warm up to chip technology once again.…
Read MoreCardpool acquired by Safeway’s gift card division
Cardpool, the San Francisco-based startup that lets people buy, sell and trade unused gift cards, has been acquired by Blackhawk Network, a wholly owned subsidiary of grocery giant Safeway. Details about the deal are scarce, but Cardpool co-founder Anson Tsai says his investors "are quite happy."…
Read MoreYahoo investors have questions, but execs don’t have answers
With all the buzz around Yahoo recently, its financial conference call with analysts and investors could have been a big event. But interim CEO Tim Morse made it clear that investors looking for answers about Yahoo's CEO search and M&A options were out of luck.…
Read MoreHP-Autonomy deal nearly done
Autonomy's impending acquisition by Hewlett-Packard is nearly done. The controversial $10.3 billion deal was cleared by regulators in the U.S. and Australia on Thursday, according to reports. Autonomy shareholders still have until Monday morning 10:00 a.m. U.K time to weigh in.…
Read MoreDaily deals platform Group Commerce buys Socialight
Exclusive: Group Commerce, a New York City-based company that sells a software platform to let publishers host their own daily deal applications, has acquired geo-location startup Socialight. The Socialight team and technology will be put toward fleshing out Group Commerce's mobile strategy, said CEO Jonty Kelt.…
Read MoreWhy HP is betting the farm on Autonomy
Hewlett-Packard plans to spend some $10.25 billion to acquire Autonomy, the United Kingdom–based software and services company. HP's balance sheet currently has $13 billion in cash. Why is the company making such a big bet? According to HP's CEO, Leo Apotheker, it's now or never.…
Read MoreGoogle makes a deal for The Dealmap
Google has snapped up The Dealmap, an aggregator of nearby shopping deals, in an acquisition that furthers its Google Offers ambitions. The purchase, whose price was not disclosed, shows that Google is proceeding even without its unsuccessful $6 billion bid for Groupon last year.…
Read MoreGoogle makes a QR code turnaround with new M&A deal
When Google discontinued support for QR codes in its Places product earlier this year, many saw it as an early death knell for the barcode scanning technology. But Google's latest acquisition is evidence that the company may not be completely abandoning QR technology just yet.…
Read MoreTwitter buys BackType to dig deeper with big data
Twitter announced Tuesday it has acquired BackType, an analytics platform aimed at helping companies and brands gauge their social media impact. The possible rationale for the deal is BackType's Storm real-time big data processing platform that could help Twitter offer well-defined analytics.…
Read MoreZynga S-1 reveals a savvy M&A strategy
Zynga has shown a notable uptick in acquisitions in recent months. But although much has been made of the volume and frequency of Zynga's M&A activity, the S-1 Zynga filed Friday for its planned IPO revealed exactly how savvy it has been in making those deals.…
Read MoreTech giants are hungry for M&A — really hungry
In Silicon Valley, happy days are indeed here again: Investors are feeling generous, the IPO market is percolating, and the tech industry's biggest players have worked up a very healthy appetite for mergers and acquisitions.…
Read MoreBunchball raises $6.5M, doubles down on gamification
Bunchball, the social gaming software company, has raised $6.5 million in a new funding round. The San Jose, Calif.-based startup has recently received "knocks on the door" from potential acquirers, but opted to raise money instead to bet on growing more, CEO Jim Scullion told me.…
Read MoreGoogle Fights Off Brain Drain With PostRank Buy
Google's acquisition of social analytics technology startup PostRank indicates the company is also looking beyond its own walls to get its social efforts off the ground. Scouting for fresh talent externally is a smart move for Google, an aging player in an increasingly cutthroat industry.…
Read MoreFor Badgeville, Gamification Is Big Business
Gamification startup Badgeville expects to book $10 million in sales for 2011, its first year in business, according to CEO Kris Duggan. He claims that being the new kid on the gamification block is an asset. "We've built this over last year with modern approaches."…
Read MoreWhat the Web Is Saying: Twitter Buys TweetDeck
Twitter officially confirmed its long-rumored acquisition of TweetDeck on Wednesday morning. Twitter/TweetDeck rumors have been flying around for weeks now, so lots of folks have had time to form opinions about the tie-up. Here are some of the more interesting takes on the situation.…
Read MoreUpdated: Cisco Shuts Down Eos Social Platform
We're hearing that Cisco is shutting down Eos, a social publishing platform aimed at media and entertainment companies, as part of its ongoing restructuring efforts. While Eos was by all accounts a cool service, shuttering it is a smart move from a strategic perspective.…
Read MoreWho Should Be on LinkedIn’s M&A Shopping List?
LinkedIn made its NYSE debut Thursday morning with a bang, with an IPO that made $352.8 million for the company. The question now is: What will LinkedIn buy with its new cash? Here's a short list of startups that could make it onto LinkedIn's shopping list.…
Read MoreCan Photobucket Make a Comeback through M&A?
Photobucket wants to reclaim a spot at the top of the crowded photo and video sharing space, and it's prepared to open its wallet to do so. The company is actively looking at potential acquisition targets, CEO Tom Munro told me in an interview this week.…
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