Etsy, the online marketplace for buying and selling crafts and homemade goods, announced today it has acquired the team behind Mixel, the iOS app for creating photo collages.
The deal, which we’re hearing was at a modest price, appears to be an acqui-hire more than anything else. Going forward, Etsy says that the four-person Mixel team — CEO and co-founder Khoi Vinh, co-founder Scott Ostler, Akiva Leffert and Roy Stanfield — will “turn their focus to Etsy’s mobile future” rather than continue to work on Mixel.
It seems that there is plenty of work to be done in that department, as Etsy says that its mobile visits grew by 244 percent in the past year. The company’s current mobile strategy has been a bit slow moving, and with competition popping up from a number of mobile-first marketplace apps it makes sense that the company is aggressively looking to beef up its team for 2013. And in terms of talent and clout, Mixel’s CEO and noted design and tech development expert Khoi Vinh is certainly a top-notch addition himself.
As far as the Mixel app itself, the company says it will not be shut down entirely, but its social networking features will be “phased out.” The app, which had been free, will also now cost $1.99 per new download going forward.
Mixel, which first launched as an iPad app in November 2011 and later pivoted to focus entirely on the iPhone, had attracted funding from Founders Fund, Polaris Venture Partners Allen & Company, CrunchFund, and betaworks.
Lascaux Co. is focused on making art fun again on a mass scale.
Mixel for iPad is a social art-making tool for people who don’t think of themselves as artists. The app makes it easy to collage together images from anywhere, in any way you like. You can remix works from others, and see the surprising ways they remix yours. It’s fun, free and incredibly addictive.
Etsy is a website that focuses on handmade and vintage items, as well as art and craft supplies. The items include art, photography, clothing, jewelry, edibles, quilts, and toys. Etsy is modeled after open craft fairs that give sellers personal storefronts where they can list their goods. The company charges users a flat listing fee (of 20 cents per items), and takes a commission of 3.5% off all items sold. Since its launch in June 2005, the site has...
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