Skype purchases GroupMe to boost mobile group messaging
by Steve Ragan - Aug 22 2011, 06:30On Sunday, Skype - a company in the middle of an $8.5 billion USD acquisition themselves thanks to Microsoft - announced that they plan to purchase group messaging service GroupMe for an undisclosed amount.
GroupMe offers free text messaging and conference calling to mobile platforms. The year-old company has earned almost $11 million in venture funding for their operations. GroupMe’s current offering on iOS and Android supports photo sharing and location sharing, it was the final software update before Skype moved in. A similar company, Beluga, was purchased by Facebook in March.
“Skype and GroupMe have a shared vision of creating applications and experiences that are the daily communications choice for a billion people. We will continue to seek the top talent and technology to make that vision a reality,” said Tony Bates, Skype's Chief Executive Officer in a statement.
“The GroupMe team has created an incredibly sticky group messaging experience that works across mobile devices and platforms, making this a perfect addition to the voice, video and text products in the Skype family.”
Steve Martocci, GroupMe's Co-Founder, noted that the merger is an amazing opportunity.
“Integrating GroupMe into the Skype experience is an amazing opportunity for us and accelerates the execution of our vision tenfold,” Martocci said.
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