Facebook on Monday announced they have acquired Tel Aviv, Israel-based startup Onavo for an undisclosed sum. The company, which focuses on mobile application data, will see its headquarters transform into Facebook’s new Israel office. The acquisition includes Onavo’s technology as well as its talent, we’re told.
Onavo was formed in 2010 and are perhaps best known for apps like “Count” which monitors smartphone data usage and “Extend” which lowers the amount of data coming through your data plan via compression. With apps like these, it’s easy to see why they have evolved into a data management and compression specialist and why the social network bought them out.
Onavo will continue to operate under its own brand which means existing apps aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. But perhaps even more important, Onavo technology will likely be put to use alongside the Internet.org coalition – Mark Zuckerberg’s plan to connect the rest of the world to the Internet. True enough, one of the three main points the CEO outlined when he introduced the initiative earlier this year was to use less data by improving the efficiency of the apps and experiences people use.
Indirectly, getting more people online could benefit Facebook in that more signups are likely to occur. That in turn could lead advertisers to spend more money on advertising through the social network.
In the meantime, Facebook said they are just now beginning to evaluate the next steps for the Onavo integration.
