Posts Tagged ‘acquisitions’

Google gave its newly launched ebook business a big boost with the purchase of eBook Technologies Inc., the startup-gobbling giant’s first acquisition of 2011.

The Internet giant officially entered the ebook market with the launch of Google eBooks in December. And while it has remained mum about specific plans for eBook Technologies, the startup’s technology covers the complete ebook ecosystem from end-to-end.

The eBook Technologies web site was taken down after the buyout, and left only a notice announcing the deal and saying that it would be focusing on ebooks for “emerging tablets, e-readers and other portable devices.” A cached version of the site reveals that the company had developed its own ebook reading hardware, device firmware, an online ebook store, and ebook publishing tools.

The company actually launched its first product in 1998, pushing the definition of the word “startup,” but attention from Google proves that a company doesn’t have to be young to operate in startup mode.

Last year Google closed deals with 10 venture-backed businesses, making it the year’s busiest startup buyer, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.

The terms of the eBooks Technology deal were not disclosed.

Skype CEO Tony Bates announced Friday that the video communications company had made its first startup acquisition with the purchase of Qik, a California-based mobile video service that allows users to stream and record video in real time.

In a video announcement on the company’s blog, Bates described the technology behind Qik as complementary, and said Skype would be using Qik’s technology to add recording, storage, and sharing capabilities to its own service. Skype would also be capitalizing on Qik’s existing relationships with mobile phone providers, he said.

Qik launched its first product in 2008 that allowed users to stream live video over the Internet with a mobile phone. They eventually expanded their service to allow two-way mobile video chat, and video email. The service currently works on more than 200 different mobile devices, and even comes pre-installed on some devices. Qik maintains about 60 staff at its two offices in Redwood City, Calif., and Moscow.

At the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, Skype also announced it would be adding group video chat services starting at $8.99 a month, and an expanded API called SkypeKit that will let programmers build Skype services into other devices besides computers and mobile phones. Bates demoed Skype services running on an OnStar automotive system.

The terms of the Qik buyout were not disclosed, but the deal is expected to close before the end of the month.

Telecom giant Motorola is getting into the cloud storage game with the purchase of Y Combinator-backed cloud storage and cloud streaming company Zecter.

The three-and-a-half-year-old Zecter is best known for its ZumoDrive and ZumoCast services, which let users store and stream files to and from servers on the Internet, AKA “the cloud” of data.

Motorola did not say how much they paid for Zecter, but they bought the whole shebang; acquiring not only Zecter’s products, but also its founder David Zhao, who developed applications for Amazon.com before taking the startup plunge. It also mentioned that Zecter has around one million customers.

Motorola intends to integrate Zecter’s technology into its MOTOBLUR service, a user interface replacement for Android-based devices with a hefty social networking component. MOTOBLUR pushes notifications from various social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.

“Consumers want seamless access to their content and media from wherever they are, while content providers want to ensure that content remains protected and secure,” said Motorola Mobility VP of software and services Christy Wyatt in a statement.

Motorola seems most interested in Zecter’s streaming technology. As part of the buyout, Motorola will be halting the distribution of ZumoCast software. Current ZumoCast users will be able to use the service as normal, but the company said that it would keep users informed about its “future plans” for the product. And almost as a footnote, Moto added that “The ZumoDrive solution will be unaffected.”

Google’s YouTube has traditionally left the production of content to its users and network partners. But that may soon change if buyout talks with a New York-based content producer are successful.

YouTube is currently in talks to buy Next New Networks, a Web video startup that has seen some success with Web series such as “Barely Political” and “Indy Mogul,” according to a New York Times report.

The three-year-old company’s biggest success comes from its independent producer program. The Next New Creators program currently has 65 independent producers, which draw in about half of Next New’s total video views. In June, Next New Networks celebrated its one billionth view.

YouTube is most interested in Next New’s production capabilities, according to NYT sources. As part of its producer program, the company scouts out independent producers, and helps them with distribution, audience development, and monetization.

Next New Networks has already been sending a significant amount of traffic to YouTube. The “Bed Intruder Song” by The Gregory Brothers, and the “Glitter Puke” parody music videos were two of the most watched videos on YouTube in 2010.

Google has given its payments system a boost with the acquisition of a startup that will let vendors take payments at the wave of a hand. The search giant has purchased a Zetawire, a little known Toronto-based startup that processes mobile credit card payments collected through a technology called near field communications (NFC), according to a report.

The 451 Group, a tech analysis firm, recently revealed that Google completed the acquisition of Zetawire back in August. It appears as though Google bought the company before it could launch its main NFC product. According to a patent filing, Zetawire’s technology supports mobile banking, advertising, credit cards, and mobile coupons. Read more

Google is in negotiations with group shopping startup Groupon over a possible buyout, according to a report Friday.

The asking price is well above the $2-3 billion rumored to have been offered by Yahoo earlier this year, according to sources cited by Kara Swisher, co-editor of Wall Street Journal-owned AllThingsD.com. Negotiations are apparently in the early stages, and both Google and Groupon refused to comment on what Google’s spokesperson called “rumor” and “speculation.”

The Chicago-based Groupon serves up steep daily discounts from local businesses that can only be redeemed if a certain number of users opt in to them. Since its launch in 2008, the wildly popular Groupon has attracted $170 million in venture funding, and expanded its business into Europe, Asia and South America. In its last round of funding back in April, Russian VC firm Digital Sky Technologies and California-based Battery Ventures valued the company at around $1.35 billion.

Groupon says that customers have purchased almost $17 million “Groupons” since 2008, and offered discounts totaling $725 million. The service has continued to outpace competitors and expand, despite criticism of its business model.

The company introduced mobile applications in March, and has also explored deals with newspaper publishers who are hunting for ways to replace shrinking classified ad revenue.

Apple and Google are headed for a showdown over mobile payments startup BOKU, according to reports. The two tech giants are both in private talks with the San Francisco-based company about a possible acquisition or partnership.

Over the past several weeks, BOKU CEO Mark Britto and co-founder Ron Hirson have held meetings with the head of Apple’s iPhone division, but the company has also been talking with Michael Morrissey, the head of Google Mobile Services for the company’s Android platform, according to TechCrunch.

Exactly what those talks were about, no one is saying. Google might be exploring a full acquisition, or a partnership. Apps on Google’s Android store can already accept BOKU in-app payments.

BOKU’s deals with mobile carriers such as AT&T and Vodafone UK reportedly give it access to 1.6 billion potential customers. And if a bidding war for BOKU does break out, an acquisition price could hit nine figures, TechCrunch speculated. According to one of it’s sources, Apple is prepared to spend between $250 million and $450 million. BOKU was valued at just over $100 million back in January, and has already raised $38 million in funding.

There’s been a great deal of buzz lately about companies coming out of Israel being acquired by giant corporations such as Google (acquired Quiksee) and AOL (acquired 5min). What might surprise you is that many other Israeli companies have been bought and haven’t hit the popular headlines perhaps because they weren’t bought by glamorous and famous companies such as Google and AOL. In the past year, companies have been snatched up from this tiny country by lesser known corporations from countries around the world like China and Russia.

Here are the ten biggest acquisitions of Israeli companies this year.

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Quiksee, an Israeli ‘virtual reality touring’ company, was acquired by Google yesterday and is joining Google’s expanding Geo Team. Anyone can pin video files onto Google Maps via QuikSee and provide 3D visual street tours on map query search results. This addition is strengthening the already firm grip that Google Maps has over location based services and local business advertising. Israeli newspaper Haaretz was the first to state that the acquisition is estimated at $10 million dollars. Quiksee will account for the 20^th company acquisition by Google in 2010. Google has been on a roll in acquiring social media companies such as Slide, Jambool, and Aardvark in efforts to become the top dog in social technology. This is the second Israeli company snapped up by Google in less than 6 months, following the purchase of LabPixies this past April for a substantially higher price of $25 million. Read more

CrowdStar, a leading social games company with nearly 50 million monthly active users, recently broke off talks to be acquired by Microsoft Corp. The deal was rumored to be in the $200 million range, according to a report by BusinessWeek. CrowdStar is said to be actively looking for new companies to work with on a deal.
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