South African-based mobile social network MXit has acquired mobile community specialists Motribe. When the deal gets approved, MXit is expected to own 100% of Motribe, after MXit bought out current shareholders 4Di Capital, Nic Haralambous and Vincent Maher.
“The community portfolio is huge because it embodies our entire Mxit user base, as well as our ability to work with companies to plug into Mxit. Motribe will be taking on the B2B aspect of our business,” said Alan Knott-Craig, CEO of Mxit.
Knott-Craig added that MXit has a lot to gain from the acquisition, as the two teams operate in a similar fashion. “Mxit’s web team is similar in mind-set, tool chain and outlook to Motribe’s development team. The success of Motribe’s apps, JudgeMe and MxPx clearly demonstrated to both companies that there was a lot to be gained from a more formal partnership,” he added.
Justin Stanford, General Partner at 4Di Capital added that it seemed like the right time to sell Motribe to MXit.
“It’s one of the first start-ups founded, funded and exited in the ‘Silicon Cape’ era. It’s a sign that the vision we had in 2009 of fostering a vibrant community of successful, local, technology focused start-ups is coming to reality,” Stanford explained.
Charlie Fripp – Consumer Tech editor
