The rumours were true. Calgary-born, eBay-acquired StumbleUpon has been spun off and is now back in the hands of its original founders and a triad of VCs.
Two years after purchasing web-page rating tool StumbleUpon for $75 million, eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) is handing the company back to its founders as well as Sherpalo Ventures, Accel Partners and August Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed. In a blunt statement, StumbleUpon founder Garrett Smith said there were "few long-term synergies" between eBay's online retail business and StumbleUpon. "It is best for us to part ways and focus on our respective strengths," he said.
Next up: Skype. Rumours continue that Skype's founders are looking to raise money to buy back the firm. Add to that the fact that eBay CEO John Donahue believes that Skype, like StumbleUpon, has little in common with eBay's core business and would be a "great stand-alone business."
StumbleUpon helps you discover and share great websites. As you click Stumble!, we deliver high-quality pages matched to your personal... [more]
Rob Lewis
Rob is the President of Techvibes Media Inc. and Editor-in-Chief of Techvibes.com.
His diverse background includes stints in International Trade Finance, Web Development, and Enterprise Software and he is a graduate of the University of British Columbia, British Columbia Institute of Technology, and Simon Fraser University.
When not blogging on...[more]
