In the last twenty-four hours the tech world has been aflutter with the news that Summly was sold to Yahoo! for the princely sum of $30 million (with 90% of that being in cash). Not too shabby for 17 year old creator Nick D'Aloisio, who said that process has given him "an appetite for starting companies".
Skeptics may say that $30 million is an extraordinarily large sum for an app which is only just about to reach one million downloads since it's launch in December 2011. Clearly there is a lot more going on here than just a startup acquisition; Yahoo! have been buying a range of small mobile startups ever since CEO Marissa Mayer joined nine months ago.
Are Yahoo! staking a claim that the future will be mobile-only, instead of being mobile-first?
Importantly, this move by Yahoo! indicates a bright future for startups. It proves that large brands are willing to invest time and money into new industries and the brains behind them. Also, it shows what a difference having the right mentoring can make, as Summly was backed by a range of ventures and well-known names in tech as well as media.