Around the Net
LinkedIn Buying Email Aid Rapportive?
- All Things D, Wednesday, February 8, 2012 12:44 PM
LinkedIn is reportedly scooping up Rapportive -- maker of a browser plugin that overlays Gmail with contextual information about a user’s email contacts. “Sources familiar with the negotiations said LinkedIn offered Rapportive ‘low teens’ of millions of dollars worth of cash,” AllThingsD reports, adding that the deal has yet to officially close. Still only available for Gmail users, Rapportive overlays an email correspondent’s social networking accounts alongside open and draft emails. “So, for instance, you can see a person’s most recent tweet and mention it in your email to them,” AllThingsD writes.“Or you can realize that you’re not connected on LinkedIn to a person you just had a meeting with, and rectify that.”
Rapportive hasn’t officially said how many people use the service. Late Septemer, however, company CEO Rahul Vohra was quoted as saying that Rapportive users viewed more than 65 million contacts per month. To date, Rapportive has raised about $1 million from Charles River Ventures, Dave McClure, Jason Calacanis, and Gary Vaynerchuk, among other investors. Last fall, meanwhile, LinkedIn bought a comparable contact management start-up named Connected.
