LinkedIn Acquires ChoiceVendor
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--LinkedIn,
the world?s largest professional network with more than 75 million
members globally, has agreed to acquire ChoiceVendor,
a startup that provides real-world ratings and reviews of
business-to-business service providers in more than 70 categories across
the United States.
?Since Yan-David and I worked with members of the LinkedIn team in the
past during our time at Google, we?ve kept a sharp eye on the company?s
phenomenal growth?
?Our acquisition of ChoiceVendor is right in line with our top priority
to build a world-class team at LinkedIn, says Jeff
Weiner, chief executive officer of LinkedIn. ?We?ve admired the work
that Yan-David, Rama, and the talented ChoiceVendor team have done for
some time now and are excited to have them join us, especially given
their highly relevant work experience.?
ChoiceVendor is based in San Francisco and was founded by chief
executive officer Yan-David
Erlich and vice president of engineering Rama
Ranganath. Prior to founding ChoiceVendor, Yan-David was an
entrepreneur in residence at Battery Ventures and the founder and CEO of
Mogad/Social.IM which was acquired by iSkoot in 2008. Previously, he
also held software engineering and product management roles at Microsoft
and Google.
Rama was at Google before founding ChoiceVendor where he was an early
engineer on the AdSense team and eventually managed several teams
including the Google Ad Manager team. Prior to that, Rama worked at
Microsoft.
?Since Yan-David and I worked with members of the LinkedIn team in the
past during our time at Google, we?ve kept a sharp eye on the company?s
phenomenal growth,? said Rama Ranganath, one of ChoiceVendor?s
co-founders. ?We?re excited about the direction that LinkedIn is headed,
particularly in terms of helping its members derive valuable business
insights from the site, and are looking forward to joining the team.?
Financial terms of the acquisition are not being released.
About LinkedIn
LinkedIn is an Internet platform company focused on connecting the
world's professionals. The company is privately held and has a
diversified business model with revenues driven from user subscriptions,
advertising sales and enterprise software licensing. The LinkedIn Web
site launched in 2003 and is the largest professional networking site in
the world with more than 75 million members, representing 200 countries
and executives from every Fortune 500 company.
Hill & Knowlton for LinkedIn
Kristin Hunter, 415-281-7161
Kristin.Hunter@hillandknowlton.comRead more