Facebook has acquired Beluga, the mobile group-chat startup founded by three former Googlers. And in contrast to most of Facebook&'s other deals, it looks like the company may actually use Belugaa4a4s technology.
Beluga allows users to create a4Apodsa4 of friends with whom they want to share text messages, images, and emoticons. The service launched in December, and there seems to be increasing interest among both consumers and investors in group-chat products from companies like GroupMe and Ning.
Herea4a4s the statement from Facebook:
Wea4a4re psyched to confirm that wea4a4ve just acquired the talent and assets of Beluga, whose simple and elegant mobile apps blew us away as a solution to help groups of friends stay in touch on the move. Wea4a4re looking forward to welcoming co-founders Ben Davenport, Lucy Zhang and Jonathan Perlow, and wea4a4re excited that the team will continue their vision for groups and mobile communication as part of Facebook.
Facebook has been a big acquirer of early-stage startups, but those deals have usually involved hiring the team and then shutting down the service. Last year, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said, a4AWe have never once bought a company for the company. We buy companies for excellent people.a4 (This practice is definitely not limited to Facebook, but it seems like Facebook has gone the furthest in this direction.)
On one level, the Beluga deal seems to follow this pattern, since this brings three former Googlers into Facebook, and therea4a4s been a lot of press between the talent war between the two companies.
But there are also signs that this deal could be a little different, as TechCrunch&'s MG Siegler argues. The Beluga team says that the service will continue to operate for now, and there will be a4Amore details on future plans for Beluga.a4 A Facebook spokesperson told me, a4AAs we say above, we bought both the talent and assets, so I think that characterization of talent and technology is right.a4
To be clear, Facebook hasna4a4t shut down every service that it acquired. FriendFeed is still running, but Facebook hasna4a4t really developed the service in any meaningful way, and it seems the main thing the company got out of that deal was the hire of Bret Taylor, who&'s now Facebook&'s chief technology officer.
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Companies: Beluga, Facebook
Companies: Beluga, Facebook
Anthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.
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