TechCrunch March 21, 2014
Some consolidation afoot in the world of food and lifestyle properties. Gojee, a recipe aggregation site organised around big pictures, specific ingredients and themes, has quietly been acquired by XO Group, the umbrella group for women-focused sites like The Knot, The Bump, The Nest and Wedding Channel. The move comes after Gojee explored sales to several other companies, including Yahoo. There is no indication of the ownership change on the Gojee site; TechCrunch heard of the deal through a person close to the company, and has now confirmed it directly with XO Group.
As part of the acquisition, XO has hired five of Gojee’s employees, including co-founders Mike LaValle and Tian He, and it intends to keep the site up and running as a complement to its other sites, targeting the same demographic of young couples with a heavy emphasis on women.
“For us at XO Group Inc., particularly at The Bump and The Nest, we recognized this great moment to take the special sauce that Gojee has in collecting content that people are emotionally connected to, and present it to our users in compelling new ways,” Josh Himwich, XO’s VP of Product, said in an emailed statement. “Gojee’s award-winning apps have been featured in Apple commercials and retail stores nationwide – the exact talent and forward product thinking we’re excited to bring on.”
We don’t know the financial terms of the deal but are trying to find them out. Gojee had raised $4 million from Kapoor Capital and InterWest Partners.
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