Facebook makes fifth mobile acquisition this year with Karma

Facebook has acquired the mobile gifting and commerce service Karma, according to a blog post on Karma’s website. This is the social network’s fifth mobile-related acquisition in 2012 after Lightbox, Tagtile, Glancee and Instagram.

Launched just months ago in December, Karma positions itself as a user-friendly way for consumers to pick out and pay for gifts culled from a curated catalogue of items. The service hasn’t been a breakout hit; Karma’s Google Play listing shows the app has been downloaded between 10,000 and 50,000 times and it is not currently featured in any of our iOS app leaderboards on AppData. Even so, the blog post says it will continue to operate.

While not a pure-talent based acquisition as with Lightbox or Glancee, Facebook’s Karma purchase nets the company a team with expertise in sales and monetization on mobile. This is a smart move as the company seeks to ensure it can still take in revenues from its increasingly mobile user base. The deal is also the second successful sale for Karma founders Lee Linden and Ben Lewis, the pair behind the original incarnation of Tapjoy, which was sold to Offerpal in March 2010.

The terms of today’s acquisition were not disclosed, but according to SEC filings, Karma had previously raised $4.5 million in funding from  Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital and others.

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4 Responses to “Facebook makes fifth mobile acquisition this year with Karma”

  1. This week’s headlines from across Inside Network says:

    [...] Facebook makes fifth mobile acquisition this year with Karma [...]

  2. Facebook tests button within mobile News Feed to drive users to native Instagram app says:

    [...] While it’s possible the Instagram icon is the first test case for a new discovery stream for third-party apps, the new icon could also end up as a promotional tool for Facebook-owned services like Instagram, Facebook Camera or the recently acquired Karma. [...]

  3. Facebook tests button within mobile News Feed to drive users to native Instagram app | Techack | gadgets & technology says:

    [...] While it’s possible the Instagram icon is the first test case for a new discovery stream for third-party apps, the new icon could also end up as a promotional tool for Facebook-owned services like Instagram, Facebook Camera or the recently acquired Karma. [...]

  4. Facebook looking to relaunch Karma app as ‘Facebook Gifts’ product says:

    [...] might soon see the results of Facebook’s acquisition of gift-giving app Karma, as the social network appears to be gearing up to launch a product [...]

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