So email management startup Xobni was acquired by Yahoo today, the company
officially announced on its blog. Initial reports said the company was acquired
for “upwards of $30 million” but TechCrunch has learned that total consideration
for the deal will be more than twice that amount, at more than $60 million
range.
Founded in 2006, Xobni raised about $42 million over the years, as it tried
to reinvent the way email was done. The company’s last round of funding came in
February of last year, and investors over the years have included First Round
Capital, Khosla Ventures, RRE Ventures, Baseline Ventures, RBC Venture Partners,
Relay Ventures, Cisco, Atomico, as well as a number of angels.
A source with knowledge of the acquisition disputes the $30 million figure,
saying total consideration is double what had been reported. Update: We’ve had
another source verify this, and say that the price was actually closer to $70
million.
A price in the high $60 million range (including earnouts and other
considerations) isn’t a fantastic return for its investors, but at least the
company wasn’t acquired for less than it had raised. While the company didn’t
get to be as big as the team or investors might have hoped, they also didn’t get
rocked in the transaction, as has been suggested.
We’re still hoping to talk to both Yahoo and Xobni about the deal and how
the startup will fit into Yahoo’s products and culture. It’s likely that Yahoo
will be able to incorporate some of its technology into its own mail products as
a way to improve them.
We’ve also reached to Yahoo and Xobni about terms of the deal. Yahoo says
that it’s not commenting on the financial terms, and a representative from Xobni
hasn’t responded to our request yet.
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