In October 2007, US Internet giant AOL bought Israeli company Quigo, founded by Yaron Galai and Oded Itzhak, for $325 million. Now, Israeli start-up Outbrain, founded by Galai and Ori Lahav, is buying a company from AOL.
Yesterday, Outbrain bought Surphace Technology and other assets from AOL. The purchase price was not disclosed, but estimates of the price tag range from hundreds of thousands to a few million dollars.
Outbrain was founded in 2007, as the sale agreement for Quigo was being negotiated. Its product is a platform for rating and recommending content on blogs, news sites, and via RSS. Through the acquisition, Outbrain will expand its connections with Internet publishers, in a bid to become the leader in the field.
Surphace Technology was founded in 2005. Its investors include True Ventures, Trident Capital and Hearst. It raised $3.5 million, and in 2008 was sold to AOL for a reported $25 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 3, 2011
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