Watchup, a US-based news streaming platform backed by software producer Microsoft and media companies Tribune Media and McClatchy Company, was acquired on Tuesday by media organisation software provider Plex.
Financial terms have not been disclosed, though Plex’s chief executive Keith Valory confirmed to Variety that it was “not a material transaction for Plex.” Watchup’s entire team will join Plex, with Adriano Farano, the company’s founder and CEO, becoming head of content.
Watchup operates an app that syndicates videos from more than 150 news publishers, spanning international outlets such as CNN and Vox as well as local channels in more than 100 US markets, and generates a personalised feed based on a user’s location and interests.
Plex will integrate content from Watchup’s partners into its own offering in the second quarter of 2017 and hopes to also use the startup’s machine learning and content syndication technologies. Watchup’s app is expected to be discontinued at some point this summer.
Watchup received $2.75m in a series A round in November 2014 led by broadcaster Tribune Media that included publisher McClatchy Company as well as Stanford University’s StartX accelerator, Knight Enterprise Fund and angel investor Ned Lamont.
Microsoft Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of Microsoft, had joined StartX, Knight Enterprise, Digital News Ventures and Lamont for to invest $1.5m in Watchup in February 2014.