Boston-based nSphere (formerly called DirectoryM) has acquired Peekaboo Mobile, a mobile-coupon tech startup, also based in Boston, as reported by TechCrunch. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, though the report says the transaction was in the seven figures. Peekaboo Mobile was founded in 2010 by Michael Fruzzetti and Ben Dolgoff. Last October, Peekaboo said it formed a partnership with fellow Boston firm Where to provide location-based coupons to consumers on their mobile phones. Meanwhile, nSphere changed its name last summer (though not its URL) and focuses on connecting brands, data sources, and local experts, and organizing “spheres” of data. Peekaboo has 10 employees, while nSphere has about 80 worldwide, Dolgoff says.
Author: Gregory T. Huang
Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003.
Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
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