Twitter has acquired Spindle, a location-based social discovery engine, the two companies announced Wednesday. The terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.
Spindle was founded two and a half years ago by former Microsoft engineers with the goal of helping users discover relevant content on social networks based on time and place. The startup raised $2.3 million in funding in late 2012.
"Every time we’ve experimented and looked beyond local discovery, we’ve been amazed by the breadth and quality of content shared on Twitter," Spindle said in a blog post. "By joining forces with Twitter, we can do so much more to help you find interesting, timely, and useful information about what’s happening around you."
Twitter confirmed the news in a tweet shortly afterward:
Welcome! “@spindle: Exciting news: Spindle has been acquired by @Twitter and joins the flock! http://t.co/zJdccsGKto”— Twitter Comms (@twittercomms) June 19, 2013
Spindle's service will shut down as part of the acquisition and the team will relocate to Twitter's office in San Francisco.
Twitter has acquired several startups in recent months -- mostly in the data analytics space -- including Lucky Sort, Ubalu and Bluefin Labs. Spindle could potentially give Twitter a way to help businesses better target ads and promotions to users on the social network.