Corporate-backed location-as-a-service software firm Location Labs acquired US-based software development company Wirkle and US-based group messaging service Volly on Monday. Location Labs declined to disclose how much it had paid for each.
Location Labs has raised $26m in financing from investors including corporate venturing units Intel Capital, Mitsui Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures. Earlier backers included mobile phone company Telecom Italia Mobile and Nokia Venture Partners, prior to its spinning-out as independent venture capital firm BlueRun Ventures.
Wirkle operates a software platform for mobile devices such as the iPhone and the Android and has powered applications collectively used by millions of mobile users.
Volly meanwhile is a secure online group messaging service that was set up by business mailing services corporation Pitney Bowes earlier in the year, chiefly as a filtering tool for customers to access household mail and bills from different sources conveniently and securely.
However, Pitney Bowes announced last month that it was to delay Volly’s consumer launch until next year due to concerns over the number of mailers signed up to the full scale service thus far. Volly’s group messaging technology would potentially be useful if Location Labs chose to update its family safety suite to incorporate an easy-to-access family-wide communication system online.
Tasso Roumeliotis, chief executive officer of Location Labs, said: "We looked at many different mobile companies and were extremely impressed by the talents and mobile expertise of Wirkle and Volly. These acquisitions of IP, products, and team signify a milestone for Location Labs as we accelerate our growth in the mobile personal security space."