• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, April 26, 2013

Moving to further bolster its mobile capabilities, Facebook has agreed to acquire Parse, a startup that helps companies build mobile applications across different platforms. The social network purchased the two-year-old startup in deal worth $85 million, according to TechCrunch, which first reported the deal.

In a blog post about the deal Thursday, Doug Purdy, Facebook’s director of product management said it would help developers to rapidly build apps spanning devices and operating systems such as iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

"Parse makes this possible by allowing developers to work with native objects that provide backend services for data storage, notifications, user management, and more. This removes the need to manage servers and a complex infrastructure, so you can simply focus on building great user experiences," he wrote.

Facebook said it doesn’t plan to change how Parse operates, other than to help expand its services. Parse co-founder Ilya Sukhar confirmed the planned acquisition in a separate post, assuring developers “Parse is not going away.” He noted that Parse’s tools power tens of thousands of apps for a wide range of customers. The company’s site lists clients including Ideo, Cisco, the Travel Channel, Cadillac and the Food Network.

Adding Parse’s app-building platform and know-how could help Facebook attract more developers and enhance its mobile offerings in line with its broader push to become a mobile-first company. That effort was underscored most recently by its launch of Facebook Home, a launcher app for Android phones.

Facebook last year opened its App Center to make it easier for mobile users to finding games and other apps on the social network. It subsequently rolled out app install ads to help developers promote their wares and drive installs directly from the ad units.