Personal-Assistant App Maker Incredible Labs Joins the Yahoo Team.
It’s been a busy week for Marissa Mayer.
Yahoo’s CEO has snapped up yet another start-up this week — Incredible Labs — as she continues her push to make the search engine firm the go-to site for mobile users.
Incredible Labs, the maker of personal-assistant app Donna, could well be an indication that Yahoo has plans to develop a Google Now competitor.
In a statement announcing the acquisition, Yahoo described Donna as a “pretty amazing” app that keeps its users punctual while giving them the information they need, when they need it. In short, Donna is “the ultimate daily habit.”
“When we met with the team from Incredible Labs, it was an immediate fit,” Yahoo said. “As we look to the future, our visions are aligned in that we think technology should be smart enough to think for us.”
Those behind Incredible Labs, in a joint blog post, said they are “looking forward to the possibilities that will come from bringing the Donna vision—letting technology take care of you—to Yahoo.”
“Upon closing, our team will be joining Yahoo and working with some incredibly talented people, or in the case of some of us, returning to a company we know and love.”
Donna will be removed from the app store and discontinued as a service once the deal is finalized.
Five of the Incredible Labs’ seven-person team will join Yahoo, including CEO Kevin Cheng, a former Yahoo employee.
The search engine firm said its new hires will become part of its communications team “where they will work on Yahoo Mail.”
Financial aspects of the deal, which is expected to close in the next few days, were not divulged.
Just this week, Mayer purchased enterprise app maker Tomfoolery and earlier in the month snapped up Smartphone-homescreen launcher Aviate to organize apps on users’ Smartphone home screens and virtual gaming company Cloud Party.
Mayer has been on a spending spree since taking the reins at Yahoo in July of 2012. Since then, she has acquired more than 20 small businesses, primarily for the technology they offered.
