It was quite a 32nd birthday Tuesday for 1999 Staples High School graduate Doug Imbruce –- a birthday that included a reported $50 million buyout of his New York startup company, Qwiki, by Yahoo!
Doug Imbruce: Westport native gets Yahoo! buyout. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
Imbruce, whose parents Ann and Richard still live in the house in which he grew up in Westport, developed the first prototype of Qwiki in 2009.
It is described as a technology that transforms raw data into a rich-media, interactive information experience.
“We’re excited to announce that Yahoo acquired Qwiki — a company that uses awesome technology to bring together pictures, music and video to capture the art of storytelling,” Yahoo said in a blog post.
Imbruce is listed as a co-founder of the company with Louis Monier, the founder of the AltaVista search site, who left the company in 2011.
Yahoo said it will not — as it has done with most of its smaller acquisitions — kill off the brand.
It did not cite a price but various websites reported it was in the $50 million range.
“We will continue to support the Qwiki app, and the team will join Yahoo! in our New York city office to reimagine Yahoo!’s storytelling experience,” Yahoo said.
In a post on the Qwiki website, Imbruce said: “The Qwiki app will live on as a standalone entity inside Yahoo!, where we will grow our thriving community and where our team will continue to work to help you share life’s best experiences.
“We are proud of the work we’ve done, and humbled by unwavering support from the NY tech community. New York is such a big part of who we are, and what we will become.”
Over its history, Qwiki has raised just over $10 million from a range of investors, including Lerer Ventures and Lightbank, as well as Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, accordng to the websiite AllThingsD.
Good for Doug Imbruce! He was one of the most interesting students I have known at Staples High School. As a high school student, Doug possessed a fascinating blend of technological savvy, excellent social skills and incredible entrepreneurial drive. When he was an undergraduate at Staples, he designed and created a on-line website which I recall was named BuyRoad. It was a forerunner of Amazon. It did not quite make it but it was right on target. After graduating, Doug created an interactive series for helping high school students with college selection – I learned of this program because my wife is a Staples guidance counselor and the Staples Guidance Department thought it was terrific. And Doug continues to create new technological inventions which are now apparently very successful! So here’s to Doug Imbruce, a great high school student who left lasting memories for this teacher and here’s to his continued success in the years ahead.