New Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has acquired her first startup for the Internet firm in the form of Stamped, a recommendations engine built by former Google colleagues.
Stamped, a smartphone app that launched last November, enables users to recommend books, movies, restaurants, among others to friends through giving them a virtual stamp of approval. The technology utilizes a social graph which allows you to follow recommendations stemming from friends and celebrities.
According to Crunchbase, Stamped raised around $3 million from investors, including aspiring venture capitalist Justin Bieber, Bain Capital Ventures and Google Ventures.
The predominant reason Mayer acquired Stamped is said to be only for its talent, which consists of nine former Google employees. The Stamped app will be discontinued, confirmed Yahoo.
"Robby, Kevin, Paul, Bart, and the entire Stamped team are a natural fit for us," Adam Cahan, Yahoo's senior vice president of emerging products and technology said. "Their experience building fun, useful, personalized mobile products aligns well with Yahoo's vision to create the best everyday mobile experience for our users. They will be a great asset as we expand Yahoo's mobile efforts and build a world-class mobile development organization."
