Acquisition
https://techcrunch.com/2014/04/18/app-search-engine-quixey-acquires-competing-service-kite-io/
Mobile app search engine Quixey, backed by $75 million from Alibaba, Innovation Endeavors, Translink Capital and others, has put some of those dollars to use by acquiring a smaller, competing app search startup, San Francisco-based Kite.io. The deal was more of a talent grab, we hear, bringing Kite.io’s founders to Quixey where they’ll continue to help the company build out its search technology.
Terms of the deal are not being disclosed, but it was a mixture of cash and stock. Kite.io itself had not raised any funding.
Kite.io was founded in February 2013, after growing out of a side project started by co-founder Phillip Nelson the year prior.
Nelson had previously co-founded several startups, including Tokbox and Snaptickets. He was joined by Jason Hreha, whose background is in neuroscience, and worked for behavioral economist Dan Ariely, which helped him develop an innate understanding of how people use and process information. The two are the only full-time staff at Kite.io, and both will now be joining Quixey in Mountain View.
