Yahoo’s mad acquisition spree continued Wednesday with Xobni, a San Francisco-based startup that helps users organize contacts (Xobni is “inbox” spelled backward.)
More than five years after walking away from an acquisition deal with Microsoft, Xobni apparently decided that the price was right and has moved from their offices in San Francisco down the peninsula to Yahoo’s Sunnyvale campus.
“Did you ever meet someone who truly “gets” you?” Xobni wrote in a blog post today. “That’s how we feel about Yahoo!.”
Xobni’s marquee product is Smartr, a system that mines your inbox and your social media contacts, and matches messages up with people you know.
If you’re a current user of one of Xobni’s products, the company says that nothing will change for you until July 2 of next year. There’s also a FAQ with Xobni’s roadmap for each of its products going forward.
While it’s unclear exactly what the Xobni team will be doing at Yahoo, I’d imagine that CEO Marissa Mayer wants to use Xobni’s work to improve Yahoo’s Mail service.
This is also not the first big-time acquisition in the contact-managing space. Back in February 2011, RIM gobbled up Gist, a company started in 2008 by Seattle entrepreneur T.A. McCann, and bankrolled by Paul Allen’s Vulcan Ventures and Foundry Group. Gist was shut down last September.
Xobni is Yahoo’s third acquisition announcement in as many days. What should they buy next? Let us know in the comments.
Previously on GeekWire: Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer on $1.1 billion Tumblr deal: ‘We promise not to screw it up’
