A purchase of Pulse by LinkedIn may mean more content on the site, more time spent by users, more interactivity and more advertising revenue
Pulse is a start-up that was founded in 2010. It currently has more than 20 million users that access it via browsers and mobile device apps. The service provides news from different verticals such as Technology, Music, Science, Architecture, General News and more. The service aggregates the news from across the net and puts it into neat graphical interface.
The 20 million plus users of Pulse are spread over about 190 countries thus far and the site has approximately 10 million stories read on it each a day.
There are a number of new readers that were purchased by large companies in the recent past. Zite is one of them that was bought by CNN in 2011. When it comes to Pulse though, it’s said that companies such Facebook and Amazon have had taken interest in the news aggregating system. Not only that, but according to CNET, companies such as Microsoft and Yahoo have even shown interest in Pulse to the point of actually discussing purchasing it. It appears though that LinkedIn has favored the company though and a deal between Pulse and Linkedin is expected to be announced later this week. A LinkedIn spokesperson is reported as saying though, “We don’t comment on rumors or speculation”. So for now, we have to assume that although information all over the net foresees a deal, none is made just as of yet.
Alphonso Labs, the makers of Pulse, raised an $10 million in seed money from a number of investors that saw potential in the tech startup. Investors such as:
* Greycroft Partners
* Lerer Ventures
* Lightspeed Venture Partners
* Mayfield Fund
* New Enterprise Associates
* Redpoint Ventures