The London-based mobile news aggregator Summly has just been acquired by Yahoo (Update – March 2023: The startup seems to be no longer in business under this website, and we therefore deactivated the original link). The terms of the deal were not disclosed, although AllThingsD reported today that Yahoo paid roughly $30 million.
Summly was founded by 17-year-old Nick D’Aloisio two years ago – it sorts news items by different topics, presented in quick bites for smartphones. According to D’Aloisio, Yahoo will use the technology that powers Summly to reinvent the delivery of information, such as news, weather, stocks and finance for mobile devices.
In a recent blog-post, Nick D’Aloisio stated: “When I founded Summly at 15, I would have never imagined being in this position so suddenly. I’d personally like to thank Li Ka-Shing and Horizons Ventures for having the foresight to back a teenager pursuing his dream. Also to our investors, advisors and of course the fantastic team for believing in the potential of Summly. Without you all, this never would have been possible. I’d also like to thank my family, friends and school for supporting me.”
Three Summly employees will join Yahoo as part of the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter. According to Yahoo’s Senior Vice President of Mobile and Emerging Products, Adam Cahan, Summly founder D’Aloisio will remain in London and be Yahoo’s youngest employee.
If you haven’t heard of Summly yet, make sure to watch the following video to learn more about it:
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