Less than two years after eBay purchased StumbleUpon for $75 million, the recommendation engine is a standalone company once again.
In a blog post, co-founder “gmc" reported that the company is “now a startup again". Gmc, co-founder Geoff Smith, and “several great investors" have taken the comp-any independent again. Terms were not disclosed.
“This change will help StumbleUpon move quickly and stay true to its focus - helping people discover interesting web content," Gmc wrote. “Our goal is to make StumbleUpon the web's largest recommendation engine and we think this is the best way to get us there.
“Thanks to everyone for helping make this happen," Gmc added. “While there will be some internal changes at SU, it will not impact the Stumbling experience and will help us create the best possible product. We are really excited about this change, and hope you are as well."
Originally, eBay said that it had acquired StumbleUpon for the synergies between the two companies. eBay was drawn to StumbleUpon because of the “engaging and unique experience" provided by its toolbar and because of the “similarities in our approaches to the concept of community," Michael Buhr, senior director at eBay, said in 2007. But eBay never quite assimilated StumbleUpon into its overall business model.
eBay has also been heavily scrutinized for its $4.1 billion acquisition of Skype in 2005 which has also been criticized as a deal that never achieved the synergies that executives originally promised.
StumbleUpon, meanwhile, was originally said to also be a takeover target by Yahoo and AOL, among others.
In a blog post, co-founder “gmc" reported that the company is “now a startup again". Gmc, co-founder Geoff Smith, and “several great investors" have taken the comp-any independent again. Terms were not disclosed.
“This change will help StumbleUpon move quickly and stay true to its focus - helping people discover interesting web content," Gmc wrote. “Our goal is to make StumbleUpon the web's largest recommendation engine and we think this is the best way to get us there.
“Thanks to everyone for helping make this happen," Gmc added. “While there will be some internal changes at SU, it will not impact the Stumbling experience and will help us create the best possible product. We are really excited about this change, and hope you are as well."
Originally, eBay said that it had acquired StumbleUpon for the synergies between the two companies. eBay was drawn to StumbleUpon because of the “engaging and unique experience" provided by its toolbar and because of the “similarities in our approaches to the concept of community," Michael Buhr, senior director at eBay, said in 2007. But eBay never quite assimilated StumbleUpon into its overall business model.
eBay has also been heavily scrutinized for its $4.1 billion acquisition of Skype in 2005 which has also been criticized as a deal that never achieved the synergies that executives originally promised.
StumbleUpon, meanwhile, was originally said to also be a takeover target by Yahoo and AOL, among others.
