Google will acquire Docverse, a service that lets users collaborate around Microsoft Office documents, we wrote last December. Today that deal has closed and will be announced by the companies. They are not disclosing the acquisition price, but our source last year said it would be in the $25 million range.
Docverse lets users collaborate directly on Microsoft Office documents. The company was founded by Microsoft veterans Shan Sinha and Alex DeNeui. Shia drove product strategy for SharePoint and SQL Server, $1.6B and $3.0B products, respectiveley. DeNui ran Microsoft SQL Server’s web strategy.
With DocVerse Google will have a direct software connection to Microsoft Office, allowing users to collaborate real time on documents. Microsoft is also moving in this direction with Office 10. In effect, Microsoft is countering Google Docs with the new Office. And Google is countering that move with the acquisition of DocVerse. For more on this fight, see Imitation Isn’t Always Flattery: Microsoft Previews Google Apps Killer To Beta Testers.
Docverse raised just $1.3 million, in 2008, from Baseline Ventures, Harrison Metal Capital and Naval Ravikant.
Update: Google blog post here.
DocVerse was founded in 2007 by Microsoft veterans Shan Sinha and Alex DeNeui, who finally gave up on the constant back-and-forth email attachments required to share and edit Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents. The company has created an easy to use, downloadable plug-in for Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel that turns these applications – with nearly 600 million users worldwide – into full-fledged, Web-enabled, collaboration tools. Their flagship product is the first ever to offer true real-time sharing and simultaneous...
Google provides search and advertising services, which together aim to organize and monetize the world’s information. In addition to its dominant search engine, it offers a plethora of online tools and platforms including: Gmail, Maps and YouTube. Most of its Web-based products are free, funded by Google’s highly integrated online advertising platforms AdWords and AdSense. Google promotes the idea that advertising should be highly targeted and relevant to users thus providing them with a rich source of information....
Shan founded DocVerse after leaving Microsoft, where he drove product strategy for SharePoint and SQL Server, $1.6B and $3.0B products, respectiveley. He is an experienced entrepreneur having co-founded two venture-backed start-ups, one of which was successfully acquired. In addition to his professional experience, he frequently advises and works with several startup companies. Shan holds B.S. and M.Eng. degrees from MIT.
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