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Facebook to acquire mobile analytics startup Onavo

Onavo expects that its technology will help Facebook's efforts to spread Internet access worldwide through Internet.org

Charlie Osborne Contributing Writer
Charlie Osborne is a cybersecurity journalist and photographer who writes for ZDNet and CNET from London. PGP Key: AF40821B.
Charlie Osborne
2 min read
CNET

Facebook has signed a deal to acquire Onavo as part of its plans to increase Internet access for billions of people worldwide.

The mobile analytics startup revealed the deal in a blog post Sunday. Guy Rosen, co-founder and CEO, and Roi Tiger, co-founder and CTO, said they launched Onavo three years ago to help tech consumers work more efficiently through mobile devices. The company is "eager to take the next step and make an even bigger impact by supporting Facebook's mission to connect the world," they said.

They were referencing the Internet.org initiative, a global partnership among technology giants, nonprofits, and local communities to try to bring the Web to the remaining two-thirds of the worldwide population with no Internet access. Internet.org partners include Ericsson, Opera, Nokia, Qualcomm, and Facebook.

"We...hope to play a critical role in reaching one of Internet.org's most significant goals -- using data more efficiently, so that more people around the world can connect and share," Rosen and Tiger said.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

The Tel Aviv, Israel-based company's mobile utility apps have "millions of users" worldwide, according to the firm. Onavo apps help consumers manage and optimize mobile data services. Those parts will remain a standalone brand once Facebook's acquisition closes. It is possible that Onavo's technology and team will be useful in working on projects to open up Internet access in the most economical way possible in areas that often have little to spend and rely on pay-as-you devices.

Onavo's Tel Aviv head office will become Facebook's new Israeli branch.