Before Norman Wiese got on the stage for last May’s Techstars Boston Demo Day, the Tapglue co-founder and CEO had been introduced by his mentor, an entrepreneur who had also gone through the startup accelerator seven years before.
What most of the audience at the Back Bay Events Center probably didn’t know at the time was that Raj Aggarwal, CEO and co-founder of Localytics, had known Wiese and his co-founder Onur Akpolat since they were both at Onefootball, the maker of one of the world’s largest soccer apps and a Localytics customer. What no one could have known — except for maybe those three people — is that Localytics would end up acquiring Tapglue nearly a year later.
Localytics, a Boston-based mobile engagement platform, announced on Wednesday that it acquired Tapglue, a deal that will give Localytics expanded reach in Europe with a new office in Berlin, Germany, where Tapglue is located. Financial terms of the deal, which closed in February, are not being disclosed, Aggarwal told me in a phone interview this week.
Founded in 2015, Tapglue provides an API service that allows developers to add social features to their apps, such as user profiles, news feeds and friend networks, with the goal of increasing user retention and engagement. As a mobile engagement platform, Localytics shares that same goal, Aggarwal said, which is part of why the company decided to acquire Tapglue.
Moving forward, Tapglue’s platform will be open source and free for mobile developers while Localytics adds some of Tapglue’s core technologies to its own platform, Aggarwal said.
“It’s taken a lot of these relationships to a new level.”
Another reason Localytics acquired Tapglue is to gain a greater foothold within Europe. The company already has an office in London, Aggarwal said, but having a team in Germany will give Localytics a position in what he considers Europe’s top tech hub. Aggarwal added that it has already led Localytics to expand business with existing customers there.
“By having them on the ground we’ve been able to find ways to expand with those customers,” he said. “It’s taken a lot of these relationships to a new level.”
Aggarwal said he helped play a role in Tapglue’s path leading up to its acquisition, suggesting to Wiese and Akpolat they apply to join Techstars Boston as a way to expand to the United States. After Tapglue finished last year’s Techstars program, the founders were weighing different financing options and Aggarwal said he suggested there could be a better option.
“I thought it really made sense,” Aggarwal said of the acquisition.
