A quiet company that has been focused on "empowering consumers to make media relevant" will now become part of LinkedIn. LinkedIn announced this morning that it will acquire Pittsburgh-based mSpoke for an unspecified amount.
mSpoke has operated somewhat under the radar for a while. The company’s most recent blog post was written on October 11th of last year, and its most recent press release was published on February 4th, 2008. LinkedIn’s interested in all aspects of the organization, though.
Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn’s CEO, explained in a statement, "mSpoke and LinkedIn’s shared focus on generating relevant content make this acquisition a natural fit for us. We’re actively investing in solutions that help deliver valuable professional insights to LinkedIn members."
Then Weiner added, "The addition of mSpoke’s talented team of technologists make it an even more compelling opportunity for LinkedIn."
And indeed, mSpoke’s team is impressive. All three of its cofounders have either attended or worked at Carnegie Mellon University, and the company counts three Carnegie Mellon professors, an MIT professor, and a Googler among its advisors.
As a result, it should be interesting to see where this deal leads. Just don’t expect LinkedIn or anyone from the mSpoke group to leak a lot of details ahead of time.