Update: Stamped has written a blog post about its acquisition. We've updated the article with information from the founders' post.
Stamped, a mobile app founded by two ex-Googlers, has been acquired by Yahoo.
It's Marissa Mayer's first acquisition (and one of Justin Bieber's first successful outcomes as a startup investor*), and it's no coincidence that Yahoo's CEO and Stamped share Google ties.
Stamped's CEO, Robby Stein, used to work for Mayer at Google where he was a product manager.
The buyout fits every hint Mayer has dropped about her acquisition plans:
- She's bringing talent
- She's bringing in mobile developers and engineers (Stamped has about 10 employees)
- She's investing in a relatively cheap social startup that she and Yahoo can try and grow into a much bigger business.
- The acquisition was in the right price range. While we don't know the exact amount, a source tells us it was "a nice size" but nothing wild.
Stamped launched one year ago as a mobile review app for places and things curated by friends.
This summer, the app was completely revamped, and Stamped brought on a list of all-star investors including Ryan Seacrest, Justin Bieber, Ellen DeGeneres and The New York Times. It has raised $3 million to date.
Although Stamped's app will be wound down, the acqui-hire is still a great win for New York tech. Mayer plans to use Stein's team to help build out something more robust for Yahoo on the east coast.
"The Stamped team will be creating a brand new product and engineering office for Yahoo in NYC’s Bryant Park," the founders have written on their site. "After everything we learned from building Stamped, we’re excited to start work again on something big, mobile, and new -- but we can’t discuss the details just yet. And we’re really stoked to be able to hire lots of talented engineers and designers for this new project."
The acquisition is also a very Google-centered move on Mayer's part. Mayer is an ex-Googler; Stein's an ex-Googler. Google Ventures and Metamorphic Ventures (comprised of ex-Googlers) were two of Stamped's investors.
"As a team of mostly former Googlers, we’ve all worked with and are big fans of Marissa," the founders wrote.
"At the end of the day great teams win, we are excited to watch Robby and Bart help NYC and build out the next phase of Yahoo," Metamorphic's David Hirsch says.
Back in August, we interviewed Stein about his thoughts on his former boss becoming the CEO of Yahoo (and what it's like to work for her).
Here's what he had to say:
*We originally wrote it was Justin Bieber's and Scooter Braun's first startup exit, but the team has had other exits as well.
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