Flipboard, the app that lets you make a personal magazine by aggregating your favourite online publications, blogs and social feeds, has acqui-hired the Technicolor-backed visual storytelling startup Ultravisual to boost its content-curation functionality.
Terms of the deal remain undisclosed, though this is a pure talent acquisition, for stock only, that sees seven of the Ultravisual team, including its founder, Neil Voss, join Flipboard.
Noteworthy, Ultravisual will continue to operate for at least the “next six months,” under the management of investor Technicolor, according to a blog post by Flipboard. The iOS app lets users share images, videos and comments based on their interests and passions, with a particular emphasis on image and video editing functionality.
In classic PR-speak, the official announcement makes mention of Flipboard and Ultravisual’s “shared vision” of beautifully presenting content, organised around interests, and says Ultravisual’s team will bring “insights and expertise” to that vision.
Specifically, this ties into Flipboard’s public curation functionality that lets individuals, as well as publishers and brands, create digital magazines. “The Ultravisual team will be working on the next generation of that experience on Flipboard,” a company spokesperson tells me.
Furthermore, Mike McCue, CEO of Flipboard, says in a statement: “We are inspired by Ultravisual’s approach to information design, their pixel-perfect engineering and visually stunning interfaces. Additionally, their deep understanding of how people collaborate around collections of content is particularly exciting since it is so relevant to the future of magazine making on Flipboard.”
Photo credit: Flipboard
